The Storm Worm is a growing threat to all Windows users that has garnered the most press since the 'glory days' of viruses such as Melissa, ILOVEYOU and Blaster. Back then, from 1999 to 2003, few Windows users had decent protection from email and internet threats. It took the widespread damage caused by Blaster and its friends to lead an explosion in sales of protection software and Microsoft to develop the security features in Service Pack 2 that finally made Windows XP reasonably secure.

Today, the Storm worm makes headlines on a weekly basis, many of them on the estimates of the number of computers it has taken control of, estimates that now range from 1 to 50 million, the reality is probably 1 to 5 million, still an impressive figure. It takes control of computers in many cunning and subtle ways, from emails offering the latest sporting news, offers of cuddly pet software on internet sites, jokes, games and other delights that could pass for real in most in-boxes. Just one or two clicks in the wrong place, and your PC will be infected.

The good new is that Storm isn't really a threat to the typical PC user, yet. At the moment all the computers under Storm's control are used to send out junk email. Storm is being run as a business by its creators, renting out all that computer power to spammers and other netrobates. Since there is money to be made, the last thing Storm's owners want is to damage those host PCs, cause a fuss or appear too highly on the radar of security services to warrant a major investigation.

Is storm lurking on your PC? Well it is possible since the Storm worm changes its spots frequently, leaving many virus scanners struggling to keep up with new definitions to protect home and office PCs. If you are not sure, then using a program such as ThreatFire is a sure way to tell. This program provides analysis of new threats, not by looking for a tell-tale signature but by checking the activity that goes on your PC.

Any kind of malware works in certain ways, trying to send hidden emails, monitoring your keyboard for passwords entered or trying to download files illicitly. All of these actions can be spotted by ThreatFire, which makes it a useful addition to your firewall and virus scanner.

Storm may not be a personal threat yet, but its owners have created a powerful beast that has the power to do a lot of damage. It only takes one issue for its creators, who tune their creation to the latest news and events to help it spread, to turn round and say;

“What are we going to do today, Brain?”

“Same thing we do every day Pinky, try to take over the world...”