Yesterday, April Fools was the D-Day for the Conficker worm, sometimes referred to as the Downadup, but nothing spectacular came of the hyped worm. Kido, as the worm is sometimes called was first detected in November of 2008 and spreads via local networks and removable storage.
The latest versions of the worm, Conficker.C and Conficker.C+ can spread in a number of ways, including downloading additional code to run on an infected computer – which makes the worm serious as your computer could be turned into a botnet client. A botnet client can be used to conduct massive DDoS attacks on Internet resources. An infected computer could also be used to send mass spam mailings.
According to free DNS provider, OpenDNS, 500,000 of its users had been infected with the latest version of the worm. In contrast, OpenDNS has over 10 million users – making the ‘outbreak’ less widespread than originally thought of. OpenDNS blocks all known domains that the worm attempts to “phone home” for more “instructions” or executable code. Vietnam was the hardest-hit country with 13% of total infections that OpenDNS tracks followed by; Brazil, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
Protecting Yourself Against Conficker Virus
The first thing you need to do is make sure you have all the latest Microsoft Updates (http://update.microsoft.com) and specifically, the MS08-067 (KB958644) bulletin as leaving this patch off your system makes an ‘entry point’ into your computer for the worm.
Stinger is another way to remove the worm and other malware that might be on your system.
After this, we recommend that you head over to our Antispyware and Antimalware Guide on how to set up your system to protect yourself from these types of attacks. We go in-depth on Realtime Detection tools, and Realtime Protection such as Antivirus, and scanning software.
We have further information on how to determine if your computer has been infected by Conficker and how to manually remove it from your system over at our Conficker Removal Guide.
