A patch for that hole was released last Oct. 17. And most of the viruses that clog networks have been active for the better part of a year, according to Ken Dunham, a senior analyst at Security Portal. Warnings and antiviral patches have been released for all of them. Yet infections like Anna, which was nothing more than an old worm in a new wrapping, continue to spread. Security experts have scant hope that the situation will soon change for the better.
People are creatures of habit so they continue to click-click.
For a while they remember the 'rule' and no one click-clicks. But as time passes they forget and start click-clicking again. Gullotto and many of his colleagues believe that viruses will continue to spread as long as curiosity is strong enough to override common sense. Many systems administrators say that recent budget and staffing cutbacks makes it impossible for them to keep up with security procedures, and so patches aren't being applied to software as conscientiously as they should be. Security becomes a priority for some companies only when it adversely affects business as usual, Dunham said.