Posts Tagged ‘infected computers’



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: , , ,