Editing Blaster (computer worm) (section)

{{Short description|2003 Windows computer worm}}
{{Infobox computer virus
| fullname         = Blaster 
| image            = File:Blaster hex dump.png
| caption          = [[Hex dump]] of the Blaster worm, showing a message left for [[Microsoft]] founder [[Bill Gates]] by the programmer
| common_name      = 
| technical_name   =
As '''Blaster'''
* Worm.Win32.Blaster (Global Hauri)
* W32/Blaster (Norman)
* W32/Blaster ([[Sophos]])
* W32.Blaster.Worm ([[NortonLifeLock|Symantec]])

As '''Lovsan'''
* Lovsan ([[F-secure]])
* W32/Lovsan.worm ([[McAfee]])

As '''MSBLAST'''
* Worm.Win32.Blaster (Global Hauri)
* Win32/Msblast (Microsoft)
* WORM_MSBLAST ([[Trend Micro]])

Win32.Poza (CA) Blaster (Panda)
| aliases          = Lovsan, Lovesan, MSBlast
| family           = 
| classification   = 
| type             = [[Computer worm|Worm]]
| subtype          = 
| isolation_date   = 2004
| origin           = Minnesota (B variant only) 
| infection_vector = 
| author           = Jeffrey Lee Parson (B variant only) 
| ports_used       = [[Remote Procedure Call]]
| OS               = [[Windows XP]] and [[Windows 2000]]
}}

'''Blaster''' (also known as '''Lovsan''', '''Lovesan''', or '''MSBlast''') was a [[computer worm]] that spread on computers running [[operating system]]s [[Windows XP]] and [[Windows 2000]] during August 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-2003-20.html |title=CERT Advisory CA-2003-20: W32/Blaster worm |publisher=CERT/CC |date=2003-08-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017130853/http://www.cert.org/historical/advisories/CA-2003-20.cfm |archive-date=2014-10-17 |access-date=2018-11-03}}</ref>

The worm was first noticed and started spreading on August 11, 2003. The rate that it spread increased until the number of infections peaked on August 13, 2003. Once a network (such as a company or university) was infected, it spread more quickly within the network because firewalls typically did not prevent internal machines from using a certain port.<ref name="support.microsoft.com">{{cite web |title=MS03-026: Buffer Overrun in RPC May Allow Code Execution |url=https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/823980/ms03-026-buffer-overrun-in-rpc-may-allow-code-execution |publisher=Microsoft Corporation |work=Microsoft Support |access-date=2018-11-03}}</ref> Filtering by ISPs and widespread publicity about the worm curbed the spread of Blaster.

In September 2003, Jeffrey Lee Parson, an 18-year-old from [[Hopkins, Minnesota]], was indicted for creating the B variant of the Blaster worm; he admitted responsibility and was sentenced to an 18-month [[prison]] term in January 2005.<ref name="infoworld">{{cite web |date=2005-01-28 |url=https://www.justice.gov/archive/criminal/cybercrime/press-releases/2005/parsonSent.htm|title=Minnesota Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Creating and Unleashing a Variant of the MS Blaster Computer Worm|publisher=[[United States Department of Justice]] |access-date=2021-02-17}}</ref> The author of the original A variant remains unknown.