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View Full Version : Conficker worm spikes, infects 1.1 million PCs in <24 hours



hey_moe
January 16th, 2009, 11:59
In case some of you members think this is just another prank or another fake...do a search on the internet and read what has happen in the last 7 days.>>>>>>>
It has been over a month since we heard (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081202-time-for-forced-updates-conficker-botnet-makes-us-wonder.html) much about Conficker, but the worm has reappeared with a vengeance over the past seven days. According to Finnish security company F-Secure, more than one million PCs have been infected with the worm (also known as Kido or Downadup) in the past 24 hours, with a total of 3.52 million machines infected worldwide. According to F-Secure, that 3.52 million is a conservative estimate.
The problem isn't so much with the older version of Conficker (now known as Conficker.A) but with a new flavor, dubbed Conficker.B. Ars spoke with Roger Halbheer, Chief Security Advisor of Microsoft's EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa); he's been monitoring (and writing) about the current spread of infections. The skyrocketing infection rate is actually being caused by several factors; Roger describes Conficker.B as a "beast," and Microsoft has built the following diagram to demonstrate (http://blogs.technet.com/mmpc/archive/2009/01/13/msrt-released-today-addressing-conficker-and-banload.aspx) how the worm functions.

Ickie
January 16th, 2009, 12:03
watch out for an email inviting you to a trivia website from Travis T, its a loaded link

Lionheart
January 16th, 2009, 14:15
My brother was hit about 3 days ago.. coulndt be cleaned, had to wipe his HD.

That night, his friend got it.

The next day, his corporate Tech found the virus in the mainframe of their business. Corporate was shut down (their system that is) for half the day.


<-- hides in Mac mode. In Win mode, AVG is locked and loaded... :kilroy:




Bill

RickN
January 17th, 2009, 02:33
That is not the only one going. 2 of my relatives have brought their computers to me for repair this week. Both had over 20 trojans among other nasty little buggers. On one of my nieces computer, I cleaned off 22 trojans, 43 hijackers, and 200 spyware, dialers, etc.

Both required a complete wipe and reformat to get rid of everything and on my mother's computer the DVD writer is now a cup holder. Not sure what happened but even new drivers and firmware can not make it work.

Both were running McAfee. :toilet:

Drake
January 17th, 2009, 10:15
If people wouldn't open up emails from other people they don't even know this wouldn't happen. I try to drum this into people's heads all the time.

Panther_99FS
January 17th, 2009, 10:40
If people wouldn't open up emails from other people they don't even know this wouldn't happen. I try to drum this into people's heads all the time.

You don't necessarily have to open an email to get a virus. Some malware can be transmitted through email simply by having the email preview pane open....