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Thread ID: 98549 2009-03-28 21:18:00 Make Sure Your PC Is Secure On April 1st Trev (427) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
760307 2009-03-30 09:14:00 Thanks for the information. Avast popped up on my screen other night with a message about April 1st, I just saw it when it disappeared, so never got to click on it.

Fully protected, but it's still good to be on the alert.
Marnie (4574)
760308 2009-04-07 19:47:00 So did anything happen?

no?
wow!!
porkster (6331)
760309 2009-04-07 20:27:00 April fools joke. prefect (6291)
760310 2009-04-08 07:49:00 Just like an over-hyped movie : delivers a lot less than it promises..... andrew93 (249)
760311 2009-04-09 04:17:00 Conficker wakes up
news.cnet.com
Safari (3993)
760312 2009-04-09 07:12:00 As mentioned on that page, here (www.confickerworkinggroup.org) is a quick test for conficker infection. R2x1 (4628)
760313 2009-04-09 13:03:00 countermeasures.trendmicro.eu zqwerty (97)
760314 2009-04-09 18:08:00 This worm-thing isn't dead yet . It hasn't really delivered a payload of anything significant and the "experts" are waiting to pounce on it when it hits the fan .

However I keep seeing that if you can get to the manual-version of Windows Updates (usually you'll find that option if you hit the "WINDOWS KEY" with the little M$ flag on it), and you actually get to the M$ Updates site, then you don't have the worm . Just letting the normal/everyday updates happen are not enough proof of running safely .

Just getting to what one thinks is their personal anti-program update site is not a good indicator since many of them are spoofed anyway .

We have a lot of spoofed McAfee and Norton screens in the US that non-savant people actually believe are their protection update sites .

UPDATE | @ 2½ hours old:


Conflicker 2 . 0? The threat is back with a P2P makeover
The Wily worm uses P2P for new instructions; other clues link it to Waledec and the Storm worm
4/9/2009 10:48:00 AM (New York time) By: Jeremy Kirk

Security researchers say a worm that has infected millions of computers worldwide has been reprogrammed to strengthen its defenses while also trying to attack more machines .

Conficker, which takes advantage of a vulnerability in Microsoft's software, has infected at least 3 million PCs and possibly as many as 12 million, making it into a huge botnet and one of the most severe computer security problems in recent years .

Botnets can be used to send spam and attack other Web sites, but they need to be able to receive new instructions . Conficker can do this two ways: it can either try to visit a Web site and pick up instructions or it can receive a file over its custom-built encrypted P2P (Peer-to-Peer) network .

Over the last day or so, researchers with Websense and Trend Micro said some PCs infected with Conficker received a binary file over P-to-P . Conficker's controllers have been hampered by efforts of the security community to get directions via a Web site, so they are now using the P2P function, said Rik Ferguson, senior security advisor for the vendor Trend Micro .

The new binary tells Conficker to start scanning for other computers that haven't patched the Microsoft vulnerability, Ferguson said . A previous update turned that capability off, which hinted that Conficker's controllers maybe thought the botnet had grown too large .

But now, "it certainly indicates they [Conficker's authors] are seeking to control more machines," Ferguson said .

The new update also tells Conficker to contact MySpace . com, MSN . com, Ebay . com, CNN . com and AOL . com apparently to confirm that the infected machine is connected to the Internet, Ferguson said . It also blocks infected PCs from visiting some Web sites . Previous Conficker versions wouldn't let people browse to the Web sites of security companies .

In another twist, the binary appears to be programmed to stop running on May 3, which will shut off the new functions, he said .
SurferJoe46 (51)
760315 2009-04-09 20:04:00 The website could have been slashdotted or brought down by Conficker.

www.confickerworkinggroup.org
Renmoo (66)
760316 2009-04-09 22:06:00 I've just received never-seen-before identical spam messages that link to imagebukket.com from two friends on MSN. Anyone? Renmoo (66)
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