Code Red (2001): The Worm That Defaced Websites

Historic review of the Code Red worm (2001): a fast-spreading IIS web server worm that exploited a buffer overflow to deface thousands of websites, launch DDoS attacks (including against the White House), and infect over 350,000 servers, causing millions in financial losses; the report notes the attackers sought notoriety rather than espionage and that intrusion prevention/endpoint security could have blocked the exploit.