The nation’s wireless carriers said they were largely unaffected by the computer worm that made the rounds this week. Carrier representatives generally reported that small numbers of desktop computers were affected, but the damage was minimal and subscriber services remained intact.
“Business impacts of the RBOT.CBQ virus were minimal due to proactive security activity,” a Sprint Nextel Corp. spokesman said in a statement Wednesday. The carrier recently closed its acquisition of Nextel Communications Inc. “All core operations are online and running normally. Cleanup of known infected systems has been completed.”
Representatives from Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA Inc. and Cingular Wireless L.L.C. made similar statements, explaining that relatively few computers were affected and networks and operations remained online.
The computer worm showed up early this week and exploited a vulnerability in Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 2000 operating system. The program opened a back door in computers that could be used to remotely install additional programs. Microsoft disclosed the vulnerability earlier this month.
According to reports, the worm caused relatively little damage aside from slowing some computer networks.
