Conficker Virus & You!

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Permalink Reply by Eugene on March 31, 2009 at 1:54pm

Here's an article about the cornflicker virus.

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Permalink Reply by Eugene on March 31, 2009 at 1:55pm

Luckily i don't have windows, i have a mac. I think it's an april fools gag...but i guess we'll see soon! what do you think?

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Permalink Reply by Kara on March 31, 2009 at 2:53pm

I just saw a special on 20/20 about it...

I don't think it effects macs- I think its just a windows thing.

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Permalink Reply by sAm on April 1, 2009 at 10:43am

CYBER SUPERWEAPON! Just kidding. I'm sure there's so basis behind all the hype, we've all had viruses on our computers at one time or another.
The real question is what is the true purpose of the virus, other than to create a lot of anxiety and angst.

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Permalink Reply by rp {|} // .MrPresident___++ on April 1, 2009 at 11:22am

another reason to not use windows...

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Permalink Reply by David on April 1, 2009 at 7:32pm

if it had botnet capabilities, someone could make quite a profit selling stolen data...

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Permalink Reply by Eugene on April 27, 2009 at 10:00pm

you called it. It is a botnet.

source

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Permalink Reply by David on April 1, 2009 at 7:45pm

I own a Mac, and I don't think very highly of them. I think they're efficient tools for people who need to do simple things with their computer, but of all the operating systems I think apple has managed to deattached the user from the hardware the most.

Windows is not very great either, but I would prefer to work on one. Ultimately, if there was better native support for many of the editing programs and software packages I use, I would switch to fully using linux.

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Permalink Reply by Eugene on April 27, 2009 at 9:58pm

BOSTON - A malicious software program known as Conficker that many feared would wreak havoc on April 1 is slowly being activated, weeks after being dismissed as a false alarm, security experts said.

Conficker, also known as Downadup or Kido, is quietly turning thousands of personal computers into servers of e-mail spam and installing spyware, they said.

The worm started spreading late last year, infecting millions of computers and turning them into "slaves" that respond to commands sent from a remote server that effectively controls an army of computers known as a botnet.

Its unidentified creators started using those machines for criminal purposes in recent weeks by loading more malicious software onto a small percentage of computers under their control, said Vincent Weafer, a vice president with Symantec Security Response, the research arm of the world's largest security software maker, Symantec Corp.

"Expect this to be long-term, slowly changing," he said of the worm. "It's not going to be fast, aggressive."

Conficker installs a second virus, known as Waledac, that sends out e-mail spam without knowledge of the PC's owner, along with a fake anti-spyware program, Weafer said.

The Waledac virus recruits the PCs into a second botnet that has existed for several years and specializes in distributing e-mail spam.

"This is probably one of the most sophisticated botnets on the planet. The guys behind this are very professional. They absolutely know what they are doing," said Paul Ferguson, a senior researcher with Trend Micro Inc, the world's third-largest security software maker.

source

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