What was the code red virus designed to do?

CODE RED, 2001: Exploiting a flaw in Microsoft software, "Code Red" was among the first "network worms" to spread rapidly because it required only a network connection, not a human opening an attachment. Although the flaw was known, many system operators had yet to install a software patch Microsoft made available a month earlier to fix it.

The worldwide cost of the "Code Red" computer worms that were unleashed on the internet in July and August has reached about $2.6 billion, an independent research firm said Friday. While hefty, that was just a part of the total cost of attacks on computer systems this year. The cost of virus attacks on information systems around the world reached an estimated $10.7 billion so far this year, according to Computer Economics of Carlsbad, Calif. That compares with $17.1 billion for all of 2000 and $12.1 billion in 1999, Computer Economics said.

The payload of the worm included:

* defacing the affected web site to display:

HELLO! Welcome to *WebAddress*! Hacked By Chinese!

(The last sentence became a cliché to indicate an online defeat)

* trying to spread itself by looking for more IIS servers on the Internet.

* waiting 20-27 days after it was installed to launch denial of service attacks on several fixed IP addresses. The IP address of the White House web server was among those.