Computer Worm Attack on HK Govt Servers Under Control

A spokesman for the Information Technology Services Department of the Hong Kong government confirmed Tuesday that a number of internal government web servers had been infected with the "Code Red II" computer worm, but immediate rectification had been taken to remove the worm and restore the services.

At about 6.30 p.m. Monday, a number of internal government networks experienced very slow performance with the symptom of heavy traffic, the spokesman said. It was detected that some government Intranet web servers had been infected with the 'Code Red II' worm, he said.

As a contingency measure, access by government bureaus and departments to the government Intranet was suspended forthwith. Immediate action has also been taken to rectify the servers to stop the spread of the worm and to restore the services, according to the spokesman.

"The impact of this worm on our computer systems has been relatively mild, the government Internet services to the public have not been affected, and there has not been any loss of data," he said.

"We are closely monitoring the case and investigation into the cause of the incident is proceeding," he said.






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