* Astronomy

Microsoft on Wednesday made available a free software tool to help victims of the worms that hit Windows computers in the past days clean their systems.

The cleaning program is an updated version of Microsoft's Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. The Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool detects and removes malicious code placed on computers. Microsoft typically releases a new version of the tool every month with its security patches.

The updated cleaning program checks for and removes infections from Zotob.A through Zotob.E as well as Bobax.O, Esbot.A, Rbot.MA, Rbot.MB and Rbot.MC etc.

The security issue affects Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, but only PCs running Windows 2000 are susceptible to a remote attack.
The worms can infect unpatched Windows 2000 systems that aren't protected by a firewall without any user interaction. The worms typically install a shell program on the computer to download the actual worm code using FTP. The newly infected system then starts searching for new computers to compromise.
Additionally, most of the worms install "bot" code that lets an attacker remotely control the infected system.

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