UK stands down from Code Red alert

The hysteria surrounding the Code Red virus may have been responsible for its non-appearance in the early hours of this morning, according to analysts.

Almost all reports indicate that internet outages throughout the reawakening period for the worm were not out of the ordinary.

David Perry, a US based security consultant for Trend Micro, who was monitoring the web for the Code Red outbreak, said that "the hue and cry really helped, and the US Government's warning was useful".

It was an opinion echoed by a number of security watchers yesterday who maintained that most companies had patched their servers against the worm as a direct result of the widespread media warnings.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said that the threat was "more hype than havoc", and that some "experts" would have egg on their faces today. He described the FBI warning as alarmist, but agreed that many people probably patched their servers as a result.

A report from Microsoft, however, claims that only around one million copies of the relevant patch were downloaded from its website, despite there being an estimated six million Windows NT-based servers out there. "As long as one NT server is not patched, Code Red will continue to activate," warned Perry.

It is believed that the worm has gone dormant again, but will be ready to awaken between 20 and 28 August and make another attempt to spread.