RSSSo far, no surprises as Conficker switches to new system
By Angela Gunn | Published April 1, 2009, 4:20 AM
In a way, you might say that this is where the real trouble with Conficker starts: As of 4am EDT -- or 10:30pm in the Marquesas Islands, where the day begins -- the malware appears to be doing exactly as predicted, switching to its powerful newer algorithm. As experts also predicted, no serious amount of amok has been run and the Net has not experienced a massive meltdown.
Today, anyway. As we wade through the much-anticipated April 1 update, it's almost certain that the real damage comes later. Smooth sailing today beats mayhem, of course, but whatever Conficker's botnet is designed to do, it's apt to do it in the days and weeks to come -- well after flightier members of the public (and their media outlets) will have concluded that Conficker's danger passed on April 1. They'll assume that they're safe... and they're apt to regard malware and its ilk as a less serious, pervasive, and insidious problem than computer professionals understand it to be.
Doesn't having the current Window's updates installed get rid of the problem, or is it past that?
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|I'm having a smug moment. :)
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|Moments usually last less than your entire lifetime. ;-)
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|Mac users, including me, will probably find that they've had some exploit on their systems for years, just waiting to pounce. It's not good to be smug because eventually, you'll be the one looking at all the smug faces.
As we've seen recently, there are still a lot of vulnerabilities in Mac OS X and Apple doesn't seem to care to fix them expeditiously (or at all).
My mum's Windows Vista system seems to have no exploits on board, but who knows? As has been said, anti-virus software can be compromised.
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|For the last two days, my email server had a problem sending emails to Hotmail accounts - Conflicker?
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|My car had this fluffy white stuff that was wet and cold to the touch on it this morning.
Conficker?
The security chip in my car key wasn't recognized when I put it in the first time this morning.
Conficker?
*laughing*
The economy is i the toilet (so I've heard), the dollar is worthless (so I've heard), unemployment has skyrocketed and our defenses have been cut.
Conficker?
Dude, in all seriousness, though... "The last two days" should have been a dead giveaway as to the answer you are seeking. ;)
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|Oh, I've been blaming this morning's snow on Conficker since it started falling. Roll with that theory, PC_Tool. Also, the banana I was looking forward to at breakfast was too brown to eat. CONFICKER!
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|Conficker makes snow!! Woohoo we have to love it!! the Anti-GW worm
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|UPS 3 day select, took 4 days to get here..
Conficker???
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|Thank you!!!! i dont know why internetworld7 cant be just like you, sir
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|Not that its not a genuine threat, but this reminds me of what the AV Companies were accused of years ago:
+ Their was a similar threat.
+ They all knew it was coming.
+ Everyone bought new AV Software.
See what I am getting at? They made a threat sooooooo legit that the AV Companies (Symantec / McAfee / Etc...) pushed all their sales through the roof!
Don't get me wrong, I work in IT and have since 1996 and I firmly believe in running a good AV software (ESET - Smart Security 4.0 is the BOMB! http://www.eset.com/smartsecurity), but for most it's a scare tactic, like when they say it's gonna snow, storm of the century. They tell us all to "Stock Up" on Bread, Milk and all the necessities. This to a degree is no different.
Bottom line: As long as you are good about keeping Windows Updated (http://www.windowsupdate.com) and run an updated AV, you should be ok.
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|I think you have a valid argument. Of course, there are situations where they tell you that the hurricane is going to hit and to stock up, you don't because you think it's oh, going to turn suddenly or it's only going to be a category 2, and it ramps up to cat. 4 or 5, heads right for your town and you basically get fu%^ed by cactus.
I'd personally rather be safe than sorry, but there's no need to be paranoid. The problem really comes from machines that have updates turned off. Relatively new systems even, where users are either annoyed because their systems restart automatically (messing up that torrent or p2p DL) or otherwise. They're out there.
But scare tactics nowadays in the AV market just don't work. There are a few too many free solutions that are able to detect and remove 0-day threats or at least warn you if there's some funky activity. I agree with you for the most part though, nothing beats a good AV, especially the second that a computer accesses the internet. And if you're good or just use common sense in updating windows and your AV (hmm, autoupdate much?), then things like this aren't that big a deal.
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|Amen to the ESET Smart Security. It's nice to have such a high degree of confidence in your security software.
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|If you're using a genuine version of Windows, and the thing is set to update automatically you're safe. If you're using a pirated version of Windows you're not, and that's as it should be.
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|pirated or not, you're still safe... critical updates are available for non genuine copies
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|So... you REALLY want those computers to be infecting more computers of people who have decided never to turn on updates, sending you spam, possibly running DoS attacks, and otherwise messing you up? Lovely.
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|This whole situation reminds me of when Roy and Moss gave "The Internet" to Jen to show shareholders at her Employee of the Month meeting... and it got broken. :-)
IT Crowd fans will get it. Classic episode.
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|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRmxXp62O8g :D
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|(screams with joy to see IT Crowd reference) Conficker is also the reason Roy could end up destitute after three hours on the street. Vicious stuff.
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|One of my favorite shows. It's just too bad there are so few episodes per season.
My point was... Conficker = huge prank. April 1 was no coincidence, to be sure.
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|dammit, last night i got intoxicated for the very firsrt time and did many regretful things, thinking it was the end of the world and all... oh lawd :D
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