How 'bout that Conficker.C trojan worm virus thang?

[Heel n Toe]

It's supposed to "hit" tomorrow... everybody ready?
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Last-minute Conficker survival guide

Tomorrow -- April 1 -- is D-Day for Conficker, as whatever nasty payload it's packing is currently set to activate. What happens come midnight is a mystery: Will it turn the millions of infected computers into spam-sending zombie robots? Or will it start capturing everything you type -- passwords, credit card numbers, etc. -- and send that information back to its masters?

No one knows, but we'll probably find out soon.

Or not. As Slate notes, Conficker is scheduled to go "live" on April 1, but whoever's controlling it could choose not to wreak havoc but instead do absolutely nothing, waiting for a time when there's less heat. They can do this because the way Conficker is designed is extremely clever: Rather than containing a list of specific, static instructions, Conficker reaches out to the web to receive updated marching orders via a huge list of websites it creates. Conficker.C -- the latest bad boy -- will start checking 50,000 different semi-randomly-generated sites a day looking for instructions, so there's no way to shut down all of them. If just one of those sites goes live with legitimate instructions, Conficker keeps on trucking.

Conficker's a nasty little worm that takes serious efforts to bypass your security defenses, but you aren't without some tools in your arsenal to protect yourself.

Your first step should be the tools you already have: Windows Update, to make sure your computer is fully patched, and your current antivirus software, to make sure anything that slips through the cracks is caught.

But if Conficker's already on your machine, it may bypass certain subsystems and updating Windows and your antivirus at this point may not work. If you are worried about anything being amiss -- try booting into Safe Mode, which Conficker prevents, to check -- you should run a specialized tool to get rid of Conficker.

Microsoft offers a web-based scanner (note that some users have reported it crashed their machines; I had no trouble with it), so you might try one of these downloadable options instead: Symantec's Conficker (aka Downadup) tool, Trend Micro's Cleanup Engine, or Malwarebytes. Conficker may prevent your machine from accessing any of these websites, so you may have to download these tools from a known non-infected computer if you need them. Follow the instructions given on each site to run them successfully. (Also note: None of these tools should harm your computer if you don't have Conficker.)

As a final safety note, all users -- whether they're worried about an infection or know for sure they're clean -- are also wise to make a full data backup today.

What won't work? Turning your PC off tonight and back on on April 2 will not protect you from the worm (sorry to the dozens of people who wrote me asking if this would do the trick). Temporarily disconnecting your computer from the web won't help if the malware is already on your machine -- it will simply activate once you connect again. Changing the date on your PC will likely have no helpful effect, either. And yes, Macs are immune this time out. Follow the above instructions to detect and remove the worm.


http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/132464

[slodave]

Hopefully I will get a bunch of phone calls in the next few days.

[targa911S]

I love my Mac.

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by slodave

Hopefully I will get a bunch of phone calls in the next few days.

Ah yes... now we know who created this nasty thang. L O L

[futuresoptions]

Think I removed this one from my PC last night... dang porn sites... I tell ya...

[porsche4life]

My dad predicts that it will pop up a giant middle finger followed by an Apple commercial We shall see in t minus 2.

[varmint]

be interesting to see who's still online tomorrow.

[Rick V]

Originally Posted by varmint

be interesting to see who's still online tomorrow.

I am,wait this is today, but it was tomorrow yesterday, when yesterday was today , today was tomorrow and I need some coffee. But I'm still here

[Schumi]

Skynet? :-/

[cgarr]

I set my calendar/clock to 1943 I will be good for a bit.

[KFC911]

Personally, I think it's a conspiracy initiated by Norton et al similar to the Y2K hysteria. It's now April 1, and I haven't seen a thing with my pc this morning that appears to be abno

[widgeon13]

all's fine here!

[Scuba Steve]

Originally Posted by targa911S

I love my Mac.

delete windows, problem solved. although i do have an xp64 box that's pretty well locked down.

[porsche4life]

Browsing from My iPhone till I can finish the conficker scan. Not letting my laptop have internet before that

[masraum]

Has the world ended? Have we been thrown back into the stone age?

Hello, is there anybody out there?

[slakjaw]

There are more and more worms and viruses coming out for mac's. I don't think you guys are immune anymore.

[targa911S]

yes but they are fun viruses and worms.

[jyl]

What is the best antivirus app for Mac OS X?

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by jyl

What is the best antivirus app for Mac OS X?

Umm...2 fingers of scotch?

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by slakjaw

There are more and more worms and viruses coming out for mac's. I don't think you guys are immune anymore.

Really? Can you point to the Mac viruses seen in the wild? I'd be interested to read about them...I don't follow things as closely as I used to.