WE Inc. Advisory Bulletin – Better Safe than Sorry: Business owners urged to protect computer systems

WE Inc. — Security companies that monitor corporate and government computer networks have noticed a worldwide increase in the number of break-in attempts by hackers as well as general “banter” in their chat rooms, which has led experts to believe a full-blown Internet attack is imminent. The U.S. Homeland Security Department has warned that the threat could have a significant impact on the Internet. Computer users are urged to download a free repairing patch that Microsoft has offered on its Web site. The repair patch was first offered on July 16 when the company announced a flaw affecting nearly all versions of its Windows operating system software.

Both The Homeland Security Department and computer experts have been ominous in their warnings, though some disagree as to the extent and timing of an event. For home users, applying Microsoft’s patch requires a few moments of time. Businesses, and particularly larger companies, will obviously take longer.