Conficker Worm Set to Strike on April 1
The notorious Conficker worm, which experts believe may have already infected millions of PCs, is due to ratchet up the mayhem on April Fool's day. That's when the infected PCs, which form the biggest botnet ever recorded, may begin sending spam, spreading more infections, clogging networks or shutting down Web sites.
The Conficker worm, which first appeared in October 2008, was designed to target Windows operating systems. Microsoft was not amused, and is offering a $250,000 bounty for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for creating the worm. According to a report on CNET News, experts believe the worm may have originated in China.
Although estimates of the number of PCs already infected vary from the hundreds of thousands to upwards of 15 million, some experts believe 30% of all PCs have yet to be protected with a patch Microsoft issued in October 2008.
To date, high-profile Conficker infections have included Royal Navy warships and submarines, the Houston Municipal Court system and the German Bundeswehr. Despite the massive amounts of publicity and hype, some experts believe the danger from Conficker may be overblown.
CNET News offers an excellent Conficker FAQ, along with a link to the Microsoft patch. If you're one of the 30% who haven't bothered to patch your PC, time's running out!
Comments
it's been two days since the Conficker scare and thankfully it looks like most people have emerged unscathed (myself included)
Posted by: caffeine head | April 4, 2009 02:25 AM