11:13 PM
The Conficker worm today has begun to phone home for instructions but has done little else. Conficker was programmed to today begin actively visiting 500 out of 50,000 randomly generated web addresses to receive new instructions on how to behave. Conficker has begun to do this, according to security company F-Secure, but so far no doomsday scenarios have emerged.
Among security experts, the consensus seems to be that very little will happen today. This may be in part because of the high amount of publicity Conficker has received, but then again April 1 is not the first time Conficker has been programmed to change the way it operates. Similar trigger dates have already passed with little change, including January 1, according to according to Phil Porras, a program director with SRI International. Security experts at Symantec, the maker of Norton Antivirus, also believe the threat is overblown and says Conficker today will "start taking more steps to protect itself" and "use a communications system that is more difficult for security researchers to interrupt."
Technology companies and experts across the globe have been working together to halt the spread of Conficker, disrupt its communications and uncover who created the worm. Microsoft has even issued a $250,000 bounty for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Conficker's authors. Despite the security sector's best efforts, very little is known about the origins of Conficker or its purpose. Nevertheless, some breakthroughs have been achieved. On March 30, Security experts with the Honeynet Project discovered a flaw in Conficker that makes it much easier to detect infection. IBM researcher Mark Yayson also believes he has discovered a way to "detect and interrupt the program's activities," according to The New York Times.
Since the Conficker worm was discovered in October 2008, the malware has only received programming updates from its author and worked to infect other computers. Conficker is believed to have infected 10 million computers worldwide mostly in Asia, Europe and South America. According to IBM, only 6 percent of North American computers have been infected.
While today may be a non-event, Conficker could be used to create harm in the future. Possiblities include a massive botnet, which would give Conficker's authors control over millions of computers worldwide. The botnet could then be used to attack corporate or government networks, commit identity theft, or deliver massive amounts of spam. Security experts warn that all Windows users must make sure their operating system and antivirus programs are up to date with the latest patches and virus protections. So far, Windows is the only operating system known to be vulnerable to Conficker.
taken from pcworld.com
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10:06 PM
- If you are on a network or have a full-time connection to the Internet, such as a DSL or cable modem, disconnect the computer from the network and Internet. Disable or password-protect file sharing, or set the shared files to Read Only, before reconnecting the computers to the network or to the Internet. Because this worm spreads by using shared folders on networked computers, to ensure that the worm does not reinfect the computer after it has been removed, Symantec suggests sharing with Read Only access or by using password protection.
For instructions on how to do this, refer to your Windows documentation, or the document: How to configure shared Windows folders for maximum network protection.
For further information on the vulnerability and patches to resolve it please refer to the following document:
Microsoft Windows Server Service RPC Handling Remote Code Execution Vulnerability - If you are removing an infection from a network, first make sure that all the shares are disabled or set to Read Only.
- This tool is not designed to run on Novell NetWare servers. To remove this threat from a NetWare server, first make sure that you have the current virus definitions, and then run a full system scan with the Symantec antivirus product.
How to download and run the tool
Important: You must have administrative rights to run this tool on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows XP.
Note for network administrators: If you are running MS Exchange 2000 Server, we recommend that you exclude the M drive from the scan by running the tool from a command line, with the Exclude switch. For more information, read the Microsoft knowledge base article: XADM: Do Not Back Up or Scan Exchange 2000 Drive M (Article 298924).
Follow these steps to download and run the tool:
- Download the FixDownadup.exe from here.
- Save the file to a convenient location, such as your Windows desktop.
- Close all the running programs.
- If you are on a network or if you have a full-time connection to the Internet, disconnect the computer from the network and the Internet.
- If you are running Windows Me or XP, turn off System Restore. For instructions on how to turn off System Restore, read your Windows documentation, or read from here
- Locate the file that you just downloaded.
- Double-click the FixDownadup.exe file to start the removal tool.
- Click Start to begin the process, and then allow the tool to run.
NOTE: If you have any problems when you run the tool, or it does nor appear to remove the threat, restart the computer in Safe mode and run the tool again. - Restart the computer.
- Run the removal tool again to ensure that the system is clean.
- If you are running Windows Me/XP, then reenable System Restore.
- If you are on a network or if you have a full-time connection to the Internet, reconnect the computer to the network or to the Internet connection.
- Run LiveUpdate to make sure that you are using the most current virus definitions.
When the tool has finished running, you will see a message indicating whether the threat has infected the computer. The tool displays results similar to the following:
- Total number of the scanned files
- Number of deleted files
- Number of repaired files
- Number of terminated viral processes
- Number of fixed registry entries
