7 Resources to Help You Prepare for Conficker's D-Day
Conficker a.k.a. Downadup, is causing global concern as we move closer to D-Day; April 1st, when the latest version of the worm, Conficker.C is due to be activated.
While some news outlets are causing panic with their fear mongering, others are downplaying the upcoming event, and the net effect of course is FUD. But according to security experts, the bottom line is if you're not infected now, you don't have anything to fear come April Fools Day. If you're interested in knowing more about Conficker and how to search for and destroy it, take a look at the seven resources below.
Conficker Timeline
The Last Watchdog has compiled a simple timeline to show the evolution of Conficker that begins with Chinese hackers selling a $37 malware kit in September 2008 designed to exploit a security hole in Windows, and ends with what infected PCs will do come April 1 2009.
Conficker C Analysis
The computer science laboratory at SRI International, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Army Research Office, has released a detailed analysis of Conficker C.
Ensure you've got the latest Microsoft patch
Microsoft recommends you manually download the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. Note: This is not a replacement for anti-virus software, rather an additional defense.
Disable Autorun
PC World suggests disabling Autorun so that your machine won't be automatically infected when you connect to infected removable media. A how-to can be found here. Note: This involves changing the registry file on Windows and should only be done by those confident in their abilities.
Search for and destroy Conficker with F-Secure
F-Secure has a free and easy-to-use tool to check for and remove worms; including the dreaded Conficker.
Use McAfee's Stinger which will update daily in preparation for April 1
McAfee has created a special build of its standalone cleaning tool Stinger which it will be updating daily to include any new Conficker variants.
No Download: Scan on the Web
Create a free account (registration required) with Panda Security's ActiveScan to perform an online scan of your machine.
Image Credit: Flickr: Jean et Melo
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Great write up. I fear that with the April Fools day target date that many people with consider this a hoax. Truth be known that Conficker is a growing trojan that began with Conficker-a and now has evolved to conficker-c. Microsoft reported that they first discovered the trojan in November 2008. For all windows based PCs make sure you run a full windows update and combined with a leading anti-virus you should be well protected. http://confickerinfo.com
You can also use OpenDNS to help mitigate the problem, as they block the worm.
Updating all users Computers who are not updated till now have to update their PCs with Microsoft patch and disable autorun of removable drives.
Users should also make sure to be careful with P2P sharing programs like Limewire and with the downloading of torrents.
I'm pretty sure I got it from a torrent. It inspired me to start a blog about it.
Nice info and links. There was a good segment on 60 minutes this evening discussing the Conficker virus. Scary video was shown on possible password stealing capabilities of this malware. It seems if nothing else conficker may serve as a good wake up call.
Even if you have the patch installed you need to take care not to sign into a domain network as a domain admin. If the pc is infected it will try and infect its peers via the admin$ share, whether the patch is installed or not.
I'm pretty sure I got it from a torrent. It inspired me to start a blog about it.
I haven't heard as much about this as I "should" have. By that I mean the average joe is probably clueless even now, just days from April 1st. I read up on the latest digital security issues at This* digital security site.
Having come accross all versions of this virus so far it is a real pain in the ass lets hope it isn't as wide spread as feared. Also alot of people got this virus whilst on facebook they would recieve a message from a friend with a link and boom Conficker
I think i got it from my girlfriend downloading her stupid music! I got rid of it by reading this blog.
Guys,
Dont go for microsoft or any of their products.
Its just user friendly.
But not stable or secure.
Is better to go for Linux.
http://conficker-virus-worm.blogspot.com/
Yes... good resources. Sure it would be much helpful for this blog readers. Thankz.
Or you could just keep your computer off and nothing will happen.
-Alison