These vulnerabilities can be used by malicious hackers to take over a server. Normally, when a computer on the ne t gets a message it does not understand, it responds by generating a routine error message. PGP Covert Labs found that the vulnerabilities mean that BIND can be used to execute commands hidden in carefully crafted bogus messages. This is among the most serious vulnerabilities to affect the Internet. Before being upgraded earlier this month, the Internet's 13 root servers were vulnerable to this type of attack.
CERT is generally happy to issue warnings via the net.
This latest vulnerability was so serious that the agency recently called a press conference and publicly urged web server administrators to act straight away to close the loophole. According to BBC News, CERT said that swift action was needed. Malicious hackers are known to watch vulnerability alerts - at times more closely than many web administrators. CERT issued a warning about a hole in BIND in November 1999. At that time the number of attempts by malicious hackers to exploit this vulnerability rose in the following months.