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It's not a mystery at all. It's a worm with some tricky payloads. The Internet won't end, you computer won't a'splode. Probably your head will, with all this useless warnings and information overload on what is a "simple" botnet. A little bit clever that the others, but without the same pandemic features of the old times infections (Melissa, Sasser, etc.)
I hate when Big News talks big like this on something that isn't so. I still remember the television news talking about the "end of the computers" with the Michelangelo infection. Which I still have a sample of in my zoo. What a pity...
http://kingofgng.com/eng/2009/03/16/conficker-worm-asks-for-instructions-and-gets-an-update/
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KingofGnG: I hate when Big News talks big like this on something that isn't so. I still remember the television news talking about the "end of the computers" with the Michelangelo infection. Which I still have a sample of in my zoo. What a pity...
http://kingofgng.com/eng/2009/03/16/conficker-worm-asks-for-instructions-and-gets-an-update/

Exactly. My parents were freaking out about it yesterday. There's probably millions of viruses out there. Why is it when the media learns about it, it's doomsday. I guess it is their job to blow everything out of proportion, though. Just be smart, and you'll be fine.
Post edited April 01, 2009 by anoffday
did anything come of it?
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Weclock: did anything come of it?

Nothing has gone horribly wrong with my computer thankfully...
Anyone have something go horribly wrong?
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Weclock: did anything come of it?

I've been watching for any news of its activities all day, but so far it doesn't seem to be doing much that's newsworthy.
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Weclock: did anything come of it?
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DarrkPhoenix: I've been watching for any news of its activities all day, but so far it doesn't seem to be doing much that's newsworthy.

It's just one of millions of viruses, except the media got a hold of this one, blew it out of proportion, and then the next day when nothing happened, pretended like they didn't even cover the crap out of it the previous day.
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TheCheese33: The scariest part of the worm lies in the checking of the websites. Orders are given on randomly-created websites, which the worm checks for and follows. It's like a commander watching the battlefield, giving his troops certain instructions that are dependent on the situation. If you have the worm, it will make sure you never know there is a worm by blocking pretty much any site, including antivirus sites and Microsoft sites.
Worms and viruses like these are always interesting to learn about. When I was younger, movies like WarGames and Hackers excited me and made me think of all the possibilities. Uplink is a very fun game that focuses on this sort of thing, and actually immerses you in its' world. When some corporation in the game catches your ip, you double-take and pray to God that government helicopters aren't on their way to send SWAT bursting into your upstairs room and taking you away.
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JudasIscariot: I like collecting malware files. I wish I could dissassemble them somehow and see their code. I got so many resting happily in my virus vault. It's like a collection of little horrors or some evil Pokemon. Best way to collect virii and trojans and anything else malicious and evil is to download random keygen files and just scan them and voila! instant addition to the viral zoo.

Part of my former job as an IT manager was to collect every infection we saw come into the network. I used to keep a box of floppies filled with infected files under my desk. We called it the "Bug Box". I had stuff dating all the way back to the mid 90's.
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KingofGnG: I hate when Big News talks big like this on something that isn't so. I still remember the television news talking about the "end of the computers" with the Michelangelo infection. Which I still have a sample of in my zoo. What a pity...
http://kingofgng.com/eng/2009/03/16/conficker-worm-asks-for-instructions-and-gets-an-update/
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anoffday: Exactly. My parents were freaking out about it yesterday. There's probably millions of viruses out there. Why is it when the media learns about it, it's doomsday. I guess it is their job to blow everything out of proportion, though. Just be smart, and you'll be fine.

BUT IF THEY DON'T BLOW THINGS OUT OF PROPORTION YOU AREN'T GLUED TO THE TV WATCHING THEIR ADS
It's doing something!
[url=]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7991422.stm[/url]
Yeah yeah, it has peeed. Now the Interwebs is flooded....
The mass hysteria goes on and on and on....
Klaatu, barada, nikto, Conficker! (in Italian)
Klaatu, barada, nikto, Conficker! (in an awful English, I fear)
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michaelleung: It's doing something!
[url=]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7991422.stm[/url]

Looks like the guy was pretty smart after all, and delayed the worm's activation!
Anyone who had updated Windows and/or their security software since October is not affected by Conflicker, and even then its behaviour change only affects systems it has already infected. Honestly, those who had Windows Update disabled or let their security software get out of date (both of which would otherwise have been updated automatically by default) deserve whatever they get.
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Arkose: Anyone who had updated Windows and/or their security software since October is not affected by Conflicker, and even then its behaviour change only affects systems it has already infected. Honestly, those who had Windows Update disabled or let their security software get out of date (both of which would otherwise have been updated automatically by default) deserve whatever they get.

Well aren't you a sweetheart. What if it's some grandmother or something that is not good with a computer? I'm just saying, there's no need to go around exuding attitude.
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Arkose: Anyone who had updated Windows and/or their security software since October is not affected by Conflicker, and even then its behaviour change only affects systems it has already infected. Honestly, those who had Windows Update disabled or let their security software get out of date (both of which would otherwise have been updated automatically by default) deserve whatever they get.

Well, the problem with that is that whoever put this together probably has no real interest in doing anything to the infected machines other than just use them to hit something else...
I don't know. Maybe microsoft finally managed to piss off the wrong customer? It had to happen sooner or later, right? I mean, they pretty much piss off everybody...
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honorbuddy: Well aren't you a sweetheart. What if it's some grandmother or something that is not good with a computer?

Granny would be protected because she won't have messed with the defaults of Windows Update and her security software; if she doesn't use the internet she won't catch Conflicker anyway. Microsoft and security companies do their best to protect users, but if they mess with the defaults there's nothing the companies can do beyond giving recommendations and issuing dire warnings; they still issue their fixes, but the entire impetus moves to the user to actually implement them rather than it happening automatically and invisibly.