Code Red II worm strikes Japan

By CNN's Kristie Lu Stout and reports

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- At least 200 computer servers in Japan may have been hit by the Code Red II worm, according to the Kyodo news agency.

The Internet worm, a variant of Code Red, is burrowing its way into the Asia's Internet servers with damage now estimated at $2 billion.

Code Red II, like its predecessor, spreads through a security hole in Microsoft's server software running on Windows NT or Windows 2000 machines.

More signs of infection

Japan's National Police Agency (NPA) was quoted by Kyodo as saying that it has discovered traces of the worm in its servers.

The agency has warned police forces to be on alert for more signs of infection.

In South Korea, Code Red II has attacked the servers of about 13,000 organizations, mainly small companies and education institutions.

It has also found its way into China, spreading to at least 180 servers interrupting the operations of government departments and businesses.

The Code Red II worm, which strikes servers using certain Microsoft software and operating systems, is a second and more pernicious relative of the Code Red worm that hit more than 300,000 computers in July.

The worm can slow Internet traffic and leave a "back door," a path for outsiders to enter and remotely control the infected machine.

The back door can render servers vulnerable to future hacking, giving intruders immediate access to classified information or even opportunity to launch a denial of service attack.

A free server software patch and instructions on how to apply it are available on the Microsoft Security Bulletin Web site.