Preventing Propagation of the NIMDA Worm with a Holistic Approach

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the main methods by which Nimda spreads, to share effective ways to prevent the spread of Nimda and to express that a holistic approach is needed to prevent the propagation and spread of recently developed worms. In the past, Virus propagation and spreading was dealt with by pure anti-virus products. Nimda introduced for the first time a complex, multi-pronged threat. In order to be prepared for future, and probably more destructive threats, an enterprise should deploy a holistic approach using traditional anti-virus products at the client server and gateway levels as well as firewalls, vulnerability assessment and intrusion detection tools. The defense needs to be mapped out holistically with combating malicious code as one of the key goals. This paper has focused on the tools that help with this vulnerability. However, when it is all said and done, it is the trained and knowledgeable teams that really need to be nurtured and acknowledged. Without the experience and knowledge to apply best practices they will never be deployed.