Microsoft websites resist virus attack

Microsoft Corp said it had fought off an attempted software virus attack that was aimed at shutting down some of the company8217;s websites. Stephen Toulouse, a security programme manager for Microsoft, said on Tuesday the company8217;s websites were up and running as of midmorning. The virus works by getting infected computers to send hundreds of thousands of requests for the site per minute.

Toulouse would not detail how the company had been able to ward off the attack. 8216;8216;It8217;s still a little early and we remain vigilant,8217;8217; he said. The virus, called 8216;Mydoom.B,8217; was programmed to launch an attack on Microsoft8217;s site on Tuesday, two days after a variant shut down the web site of the SCO Group, a small Utah software company. But security experts had said the Mydoom.B variant was spreading less quickly than Mydoom.A, the version that attacked SCO Group.

Last week, Microsoft said it would to pay 250,000 to anyone who helps authorities find and prosecute the author of the virus. The cash reward is the third so far under a 5 million programme Microsoft announced earlier to help US authorities catch authors of unusually damaging Internet infections aimed at consumers of the company8217;s software products.