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Posts Tagged ‘computer worm’

Conficker Worm On The Move, Silently Updating

April 14th, 2009 by Erin Posted in Business, Small Business, Technology | No Comments »

Conficker - 

The mysterious, incestuous computer worm – which failed to make a splash on April 1 – is alive and well.

Sure, CNET may have taken down its ominous countdown clock – but we haven’t heard the last of Conficker.

The horrid worm is still spreading – still mutating – and silently updating.

The folks at TrendLabs Malware Blog says Conficker is now on the move, communicating and dumping a mysterious code between infected computers.

The IT world is in a frenzy, trying to analyze the code – but it’s believed to be a keystroke logger or some other program designed to steal sensitive data.

Meantime, Conficker itself is still somewhat of an enigma. Just when experts think they have a handle on it – it veers in another direction.

The problem is the software in which it’s hiding. The dubious .sys component is hidden deep in a rootkit, designed to disguise the fact that a computer has been compromised.

The good news?

Conficker has been given orders to stop replicating on May 3.

The bad news?

The 12 million or so infected computers will still be remotely controlled – and in theory – spied on.

Considering this worm spread, in part, by a hole in Microsoft Windows – I think it’s safe to assume that Apple is the world’s new best friend.

 Tags: computer worm, conficker, infected computers, malware

Conficker | Shades Of Y2K?

April 1st, 2009 by Erin Posted in Business, Small Business, Technology | No Comments »

You know things are serious when you see a countdown clock.

Back in ‘99 it was the countdown to Y2K. What would the millenium bug do?

Turns out – nothing much. We can largely thank the scores of IT professionals who worked for years to rewrite bad code before January 1, 2000.  But the media hype was over the top.

But today – this very day actually, April 1st –  techies and businesses alike, are watching and waiting again.

This time all eyes are on Conficker – the nasty computer worm that is set to unleash its fury today, April Fools Day.

CNET actually has a live countdown going – yielding time-stamped accounts of what’s happening with this worm around the world.

So far so good. There’s been no movement yet.

Could all of this Conficker talk be much ado about nothing?

Perhaps.

Experts all agree that there won’t be a huge cyber event associated with this worm. In fact, it’s likely Conficker will remain undercover while our infected computers and networks stay in operation. After all, it’s money these guys are after – not the satisifaction of seeing the world’s computers crumble.

Does this mean we should let our guards down?

Not a chance.

Businesses are especially vulnerable right now, and while nothing may come of Conficker today – the malicious worm is still waiting in the wings.

Now is the time to read up on how to rid your computer of the virus before it actually strikes. If your computer is indeed infected, there are a handful of free removal clients that can do the job.

Funny enough, Conficker really is reminiscent of Y2K – and could, perhaps, go down as being the worst April Fools joke in history.

We’ll just have to wait and see.

 Tags: computer worm, conficker, free removal clients, infected computer