A worm attack disabled thousands of computers across the UAE yesterday and disrupted passenger services at Dubai International Airport for much of the day.
Microsoft afterwards put out an alert on its website for the Sasser Worm. The contact centre at Emirates Internet and Multimedia (EIM) said the worm attack started on Saturday worldwide.
"It will not allow you to check your email," a customer care official said, adding the centre had been receiving a number of complaints from customers that "nothing is working".
Airport staff first noticed the problem as early as 8am. The worm badly affected passenger check-in and baggage handling systems, confirmed Mike Simon, senior vice president, Corporate Communications, Emirates Group.
Passenger movement started improving only towards evening, he added. "Our IT security staff has been engaged in updating services at our airport facilities throughout the day, with security patches and virus scan updates.
"We are sorry this has inconvenienced passengers, but it is beyond our control. It was, in fact, a global problem, and we took immediate action as soon as it surfaced," he said.
A staffer at the Emirates Ticketing Sales counter at the airport admitted there was a systems shutdown in a morning and that the computers were working only intermittently. Another staffer said his computer was still not working as of 4pm.
He provided Gulf News with a contact number for the corporate network, which when dialled began with the following message: "If your computer is repeatedly rebooting or having connectivity problems, switch off the PC."
With airport ground staff having to rely on manual procedures, passenger clearance time slowed down considerably and led to inevitable flight delays.
Several passengers were visibly upset.
One passenger said announcements were made over the PA about a technical problem and apologies were made. "But I will surely miss my connecting flight," he said.
"Everyone has anti-virus software. I don't understand this delay," added his companion.A porter at the airport said there was a huge crowd of passengers in the morning. "They disbursed only by late afternoon."
An anti-virus expert said the Sasser worm has infected millions of computers worldwide and infects any computer switched on.
Steps to tackle spreading worm* If your PC is infected, press Control, Alt and Delete. Then press the process tab in the Task Manager.
* Even if the worm is physically deleted, it comes back as a variant such as W32.Sasser.B
* The permanent way to remove it is go to Norton.Com and let the software delete it.
* Microsoft said the worm only attacks computers with Windows XP service pack one, or Windows 2000, service pack 3.
* It does not affect Windows 98 second edition, Windows 98, or Windows XP 64-bit edition.
Gulf News
