Code Red: Pat on the back for Microsoft and the media

The Home Office has issued a statement on the low impact of the Code Red worm and said the media and Microsoft had together helped keep the worm under control.

The statement said the worm's impact in the UK was very low but urged system administrators to remain vigilant to ensure adequate protection was in place. The Home Office said the publicity surrounding the worm had a positive effect, resulting in fewer casualties.

The statement said: "It is possible that the publicity given to the vulnerabilities of the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) and the availability of the patch will have helped to reduce the effects of the worm as system administrators applied the patch and fewer servers became vulnerable to attack."

Earlier on today Microsoft came under attack from system administrators for the unnecessary workload the Code Red service packs caused when a patch would have sufficed.