Good worm tries to fix Blaster damage

Reuters reports that a new Internet worm is spreading around the world, trying to patch the same security hole that the Blaster worm used to access systems last week. Security experts say the new worm, dubbed Welchia or Nachi, is similar to Blaster, but this one tries to clean up systems infected by Blaster.

Experts say that despite the worm`s apparently good intentions, spreading 'good` worms is a bad idea too. Blaster, also dubbed MSBlaster LoveSan, has infected more than 570 000 computers since it surfaced last week, according to an estimate from anti-virus vendor Symantec.

The Windows vulnerability it exploits, which experts have known about since at least mid-July, affects computers running Windows XP, 2000, NT and Server 2003.

Eweek reports that members of the open source community have approached the SCO Group with a proposal they hope will allow them to look at the alleged offending Unix code in the Linux kernel - either without or under a less restrictive non-disclosure agreement.

SCO has said that no one can see its Unix code without signing an agreement that will protect its intellectual property rights.

Mobile Commerce World reports that Nokia`s global handset market share increased to 37% in the second quarter, compared with 35% in the first. This is according to findings by researcher Strategy Analytics.

The report says Sony Ericsson also increased its market share sequentially, to 6% from 5%. Motorola`s second quarter market share decreased to 14.2% from 15.4% while Siemens AG`s share remained at 7.3%.

In the wake of the worst power outage in North America, Ballard Power Systems in Vancouver has unveiled a new fuel cell power generator designed for emergency backup applications. The stationary generator, which is powered by hydrogen, incorporates technology developed from its first commercial fuel cell product, the Nexa power module.

The company says its new generator, called the Nexa RM Series, is designed to be used as an industrial backup or for telecommunications systems such as cellphone towers, data centres and bank machines.

US-based Citibank, a division of Citigroup, has warned its customers of a new scam involving 'phishing`, in which con artists try to get personal banking details from people via e-mail. Numerous Citibank clients are reported to have received e-mails that appear to come from the bank, threatening to close their cheque accounts if they do not provide their social security numbers.

RealNetworks has signed a deal to offer digital downloads of music from legendary rock band the Rolling Stones though its Rhapsody online music service. RealNetworks says the Stones` Virgin Records catalogue, including albums like "Sticky Fingers" and "Exile on Main Street", would be available exclusively online through Rhapsody for a limited period.

Individual tracks can be downloaded or played over the Internet through Rhapsody until the end of August, though the Stones` tracks will stay in Rhapsody`s catalogue even after the music is made available to other services by Virgin parent EMI Group.