Blackworm (CME 24) - Some Damage, but not as widespread as predicted

It may also take a couple of days for damage to show up and to collect any meaningful statistics.  Our local news reported that some folks got hit in our metropolitan area of 250,000 residents.  It was reported that one local PC company was charging $100 to repair systems, so this had an impact on home users. 

So far, in monitoring news sources, the overall damage was less than anticipated.  I've always been an advocate of security awareness, as it's important to know how malicious individuals can attack.  If there were over-exaggerations by the media it was helpful, as folks took got extra measures in preparation, updating and backing up their data.    

Below is a cut/paste of Google News headlines, which is good news so far:
 
GOOGLE NEWS HEADLINES - February 3, 2006

Weekend Will Tell Kama Sutra Tale
InformationWeek, NY - 2 hours ago
Because most still-infected computers belong to home
users, the real scale of any data loss caused by the
Kama Sutra worm may not be known until early next week
...
 
All quiet on the Nyxem front
VNUNet.com, Netherlands - 2 hours ago
Anti-virus companies are seeing very damage from the
Nyxem.E worm that was scheduled to start overwriting
data on infected systems earlier today. ...
 
Researchers fear confusion on worm name
Seattle Post Intelligencer - 3 hours ago
By ANICK JESDANUN. NEW YORK -- Friday's
file-destroying worm goes by "Mywife" at Microsoft
Corp. and McAfee Inc., "Blackmal" at Symantec Corp.
and CA Inc. ...
 
Experts: 'Hype' May Have Mitigated Worm
Houston Chronicle, United States - 4 hours ago
By ANICK JESDANUN AP Internet Writer. — Companies
and individuals heeded this week's warning _ some may
call it "hype" _ about ...
 
Was the Kama Sutra worm overhyped?
CNET News.com, CA - 4 hours ago
The Kama Sutra worm, like so many other virus scares,
reminds us and other bloggers of the Y2K mania, albeit
on a smaller scale. ...
 
Worm Attack Fizzles Out
Red Herring, CA - 4 hours ago
A computer worm dubbed Kama Sutra and other names
infected thousands of machines but failed to cause any
significant loss of data. ...
 
 Kama Sutra worm hits home
CNN - 9 hours ago
By Marsha Walton. ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Many
computer users around the globe apparently heeded the
warnings about a worm with ...
 
Kama Sutra virus causes little damage
Boston Globe, United States - 9 hours ago
A man is seen in front of a display of computers in an
undated file photo. A computer virus that was designed
to start its malicious ...
 
Kama Sutra assumes damp squid position
Inquirer, UK - 9 hours ago
THE MUCH HYPED Kama Sutra worm tipped to wreak a trail
of destruction in its wake appears to have instead has
raised hardly a whimper never mind a scream. ...
 
Update 4: File-Destroying Worm Causes Little Damage
Forbes - 10 hours ago
By ANICK JESDANUN , 02.03.2006, 09:26 AM. A
file-destroying computer worm set to activate Friday
caused relatively little damage ...
 
File-destroying worm causes little damage
BusinessWeek - 11 hours ago
FEB. 3 8:43 AM ET A file-destroying computer worm set
to activate Friday caused relatively little damage
during the business day ...
 
Kama Sutra worm threat goes soft
CNET News.com, CA - 11 hours ago
The Kama Sutra worm, designed to begin deleting files
on infected computers this morning, has caused
virtually no damage, according to antivirus firms. ...

 
Feared computer worm not so scary in Asia
CTV.ca, Canada - 11 hours ago
Computer users on this side of the continent must be
crossing their fingers as they boot up, but there have
been no reports of any damage from a malicious worm
...
 
Asia Escapes File-Destroying Worm
CBS News - 11 hours ago
(CBS/AP) A computer worm expected to begin corrupting
files in infected machines around the world Friday
caused no major damage in the Asian financial centers
...
 
Computer worm doesn't bite in Hong Kong, Tokyo
USA Today - 11 hours ago
By Sylvia ***, Associated Press. HONG KONG — A
computer worm expected to begin corrupting files in
infected machines around the ...
 
Free Removal Tools Released as 'Blackworm' Approaches
PC Magazine - 12 hours ago
With the clock ticking on a Feb. 3 D-Day for the
activation of the destructive 'Blackworm' worm
payload, anti-virus vendors are ...
 
 'Limited' damage from Nyxem virus
BBC News, UK - 13 hours ago
The Windows virus was set to start deleting popular
file types on 3 February and was known to have
infected more than 300,000 machines. ...
 
Kama Sutra virus fizzles in Japan, Hong Kong
CBC News, Canada - 13 hours ago
Computer security firms were bracing for a computer
virus on Friday expected to corrupt files on thousands
of computers. But early ...
 
Humanity survives Kama Sutra apocalypse
Register, UK - 14 hours ago
Security watchers reckon the Kama Sutra worm, which is
programed to overwrite files on infected Windows PCs
today, will have a damaging but not catastrophic ...
 
File-destroying worm causes no major damage so far in
Hong Kong ...
Calgary Sun, Canada - 15 hours ago
By SYLVIA ***. HONG KONG (AP) - A computer worm
expected to begin corrupting files in infected
machines around the world Friday has ...
 
Kama Sutra quiet so far
NEWS.com.au, Australia - 20 hours ago
AUSTRALIAN IT security professionals have so far
reported few problems from the so-called Kama Sutra
worm, which was due to begin overwriting files on
infected ...