Viruses/Worms News

Conficker variant expected to go live today

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Conficker.C, the latest variant of the computer virus that has already infected some 12 million PCs worldwide, is expected to be unleashed today. Early reports from industry websites said no problems had been detected on Wednesday morning.

Conficker first surfaced late last year and spread through a security flaw in Microsoft Windows. Despite a security patch from Microsoft, some experts believe that Conficker.C may activate on April 1 and start another assault on Windows computers.

Network security experts said the threat from this variant of the worm is that it blocks access to websites of popular internet security companies. Anti-malware solutions offered by network security companies can use buffer overflow protection to prevent future infections.

But other industry observers believe Conficker-infected computers likely will not be tasked to perform a major cyberattack.

Andrew Hayter at ICSA Labs, which certifies anti virus software, told SCMagazineUS.com that users should be mindful but not worried, especially if their machines are not already corrupted.

"We have to do a wait-and-see but, provided you've taken care of your systems, I think you're fairly safe," Hayter told the website. "It will not be the end of the internet as we know it tomorrow."