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Techies fear Conficker worm will strike 12 million computers on April 1st

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Techies fear Conficker worm will strike 12 million computers on April 1st

BY Rich Schapiro

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

 

Tuesday, March 31st 2009, 9:23 PM

 

 

Conficker has computer users scared... or will it prove to be nothing but an April Fools Day joke?

The computer world is bracing for the retooling of a virus so menacing that Microsoft has offered a $250,000 bounty for tracking down its shadowy creator.

 

Called the Conficker worm, the nasty computer bug already has poisoned up to 12 million computers and is feared to launch a new wave of cybercrimes today.

 

"The worm represents a very successful Internet worm, the likes of which we haven't seen for five or six years," said Don DeBolt, head of threat research for New York IT firm, CA.

 

After the first version of Conficker began infecting computers in October by exploiting a Microsoft Windows security hole, it hasn't spawned many symptoms.

 

But experts fear April Fools' Day may mark the date when a master computer gains control of all the infected machines and wreaks havoc.

 

"It's a very large number of machines that can be used for cybercrimes," said Kevin Haley, director of Semantic Security Response. "The big question is what kind of cybercrime might that be."

 

The scenarios are many.

 

The virus could delete all files on a person's computer, shut down Web sites or enable its creators to steal credit card numbers, passwords and other identifying information.

 

Experts say the virus might also attempt to get computer users to buy phony software or other bogus products.

 

"We don't necessarily know what the endgame of the authors is right now, and that's what's gotten everybody so worked up," DeBolt said.

 

What makes Conficker especially nasty is that it spreads without human involvement and prevents infected computers from downloading software designed to destroy it.

 

The sophistication of the bug has convinced some experts the Conficker mastermind is not a single individual.

 

"They have very advanced skills, and they're very quick at what they do," DeBolt said.

 

rschapiro@nydailynews.com

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Shortline Bus

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Aprils fools or not i just recently had my good friend do a major 'upgrade' to my laptop incuding 'new' virus protection:(. As protection i may skip my home laptop in morning and use the computer both at work and night school. tommorow.

 

I watch the news online and if 'no major problems' i use my laptop again when i get home.

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SevenEleven Dispatcher

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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Danger hiptop 4.7; U; rv:1.7.12) Gecko/20050920)

 

Ugh. Not another virus. The people who come up with these things outside the reason of educational purposes have no lives. Be preparedless nonetheless. Backup your stuff.

 

A very good solution to backing up is Acronis TrueImage. You can backup files or your whole hdd and restore it later on. (Did it twice coming back from Windows 7 installs)

 

In Addition, keep your antivirus and other software up to date.

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7LineFan

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It is already on it's way so I need to turn off my PC soon but I won't worry for now since the virus cannot travel that fast... I am half worried and half not, I'll se what happens.

 

Viruses can travel instantly. And, according to every report I've read, it would already be in your computer.

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CPBO

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A Hoax huh?? these people that come up with stuff r sick......get a life already....sitting in a cellar somehwere....or better yet probably at work....hhhmmm lets see what we can do to the internet to create havoc......

:tdown::tdown::tdown:

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Harry

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Disregard the post I made, the news channel made it a Aprils Fools Joke, and so is the virus, a hoax.

 

Typical windows stuff. Big hype, fail to deliver. :P:cool:

 

- A

 

I got a BSOD last night at 11:20. But yeah, it's a hoax.

 

A Hoax huh?? these people that come up with stuff r sick......get a life already....sitting in a cellar somehwere....or better yet probably at work....hhhmmm lets see what we can do to the internet to create havoc......

:tdown::tdown::tdown:

 

A hoax, huh. Why am I not surprised......

 

The worm is not a hoax and it does exist. It currently resides on an estimated 10 million computers around the world mostly in China, Argentina and Chile. The worm hasn't been activated yet meaning the author has not sent instructions to it yet. That's the attack security experts are waiting for. It was supposed to be April 1 but that wasn't the case. The worm is very real and it is one of the most sophistated worms ever to be created.

 

I've been eradicating other strains of this worm on computers for the past 6 months. I've patched 28 workstations and 4 servers in the past two days alone ready in case anything were to happen. I got a couple of more to do in the next few days. Believe it.

 

If you're running a bootleg copy of Windows XP with service pack 2 or earlier you are very vulnerable to this worm.

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Shortline Bus

Shortline Bus

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The worm is not a hoax and it does exist. It currently resides on an estimated 10 million computers around the world mostly in China, Argentina and Chile. The worm hasn't been activated yet meaning the author has not sent instructions to it yet. That's the attack security experts are waiting for. It was supposed to be April 1 but that wasn't the case. The worm is very real and it is one of the most sophistated worms ever to be created.

 

I've been eradicating other strains of this worm on computers for the past 6 months. I've patched 28 workstations and 4 servers in the past two days alone ready in case anything were to happen. I got a couple of more to do in the next few days. Believe it.

 

If you're running a bootleg copy of Windows XP with service pack 2 or earlier you are very vulnerable to this worm.

 

 

Great advice from the computer master. Thanks for tip Harry.

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MTR Admiralty

MTR Admiralty

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The worm is not a hoax and it does exist. It currently resides on an estimated 10 million computers around the world mostly in China, Argentina and Chile. The worm hasn't been activated yet meaning the author has not sent instructions to it yet. That's the attack security experts are waiting for. It was supposed to be April 1 but that wasn't the case. The worm is very real and it is one of the most sophistated worms ever to be created.

 

I've been eradicating other strains of this worm on computers for the past 6 months. I've patched 28 workstations and 4 servers in the past two days alone ready in case anything were to happen. I got a couple of more to do in the next few days. Believe it.

 

If you're running a bootleg copy of Windows XP with service pack 2 or earlier you are very vulnerable to this worm.

 

Yeah my computer got trashed by a virus, I'm not sure if it is the conficker worm, but I got the lovely BSOD. I lost a lot of my chat logs and some other files. My AV got busted from that virus.

Nothing else has happened yet.

You got any contingency tips?

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