conficker The ‘ole Conficker worm still infecting PCs years later

[Guest LilBambi]

The ‘ole Conficker worm still infecting PCs years later - FransComputerServices Blog

 

‘Obstinate’ Conficker worm infests millions of PCs years later

By Gregg Keizer, Computerworld

Suppressed botnet has 7M Windows machines in its grip three years after it first appeared

And Mac users thought they had it bad with their Flashback, which is not good, so don’t get me wrong here. But Apple should be watching closely situations like Conficker worm/botnet. What’s that old saying? But by the grace of God go I? or something like that.

 

Of course this is one of the most widespread botnets to hit Windows PCs, but still, it’s only one of many that are out there for PCs. And although Microsoft made similar mistakes as Apple in regard to malware/viruses/botnets initially, they made up for it in time. They even put out their own antivirus/antimalware program – Microsoft Security Essentials for free to home users to help protect their users. But even with their experience with these things for many years and learning from their mistakes, there is this…

Concern about Conficker reached a crescendo when the mainstream media, including major television networks, reported that the worm would update itself on April 1, 2009. Because of the size of the Conficker botnet — estimates ran as high as 12 million at that point — and other mysteries, hype ran at fever pitch.

…

It also urged all Windows users to ensure they have applied the pertinent patch —

MS08-067

— and for Windows XP and Vista machines, the March update that

disables AutoRun

.

Much more in the 2 page article.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Wow! Do you have any idea what a 7,000,000 machine botnet would sell for on the hacker black market? Hundreds of thousands of dollars!

[Corrine]

The lead article in latest Security Intelligence Report (Volume 12 which covers July-December 2011) relates to Conficker: Conficker Remains a Threat

 

For those interested in SIR Volume 12:

• Introductory video by Tim Raines: http://aka.ms/l0k5lb
  
• SIR, Volume 12: Security Intelligence Report (SIR) vol.12
  
• Featured Articles
  

[Guest LilBambi]

Heard that Eric! :'(

 

Thanks for the additional links about that Corrine!

 

Amazing information and not in a good way, ya know!

[goretsky]

Hello,

 

Here is a blog post I wrote last year on Conficker at work. While it is not exactly new, neither is the worm. This is one case where the criminal organization behind a piece of malware really outsmarted themselves—this worm is so notorious that the moment the authors would try to update it, send it a command, etc, that the anti-malware community (through the Conficker Working Group and other outlets) would respond in a frenzy, and it is extremely unlikely the police in the authors' home country (or countries) could ignore the outcry.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

[Guest LilBambi]

Thanks for posting that Aryeh! I remember reading your article back when you first posted it.

[Guest LilBambi]

It comes up on them so slowly many times ... they just forget how well the computer worked initially! They just don't realize it could be because of some malware.

 

 

Education! That's the key!

[crp]

I doubt the Conficker could do much harm now-a-days as all the anti-virii vendors have had attack code for it for quite some time (as Aryeh noted)

BUTand there is always a BUT

I can definitely see how the worm can keep on living until the criminals figure out how to mask the commands. Referring back to an old thread pre-pretification days - someone (re-)installing XP SP1 and not having the patience to spend 15 hours updating the patches and accessories!

[Guest LilBambi]

You are right crp! When reinstalling Windows these days, you have to have SP1, SP2, SP3 as needed available locally before it ever touches the Internet. You can't get the updates fast enough. It's like the old Blaster days.

[ross549]

You are right crp! When reinstalling Windows these days, you have to have SP1, SP2, SP3 as needed available locally before it ever touches the Internet. You can't get the updates fast enough. It's like the old Blaster days.

 

Even if you are sitting behind a firewall? I just reloaded an XP machine last week from SP2, and while there were 148 updates to do, including SP3, it seemed to go just fine. MSE was installed and worked fine.

 

Adam

[Guest LilBambi]

No, the real issue is having SP2 before you get online. Sorry should have been more clear on that.