Home Contact Us Articles Conficker - April Fools Joke, or Problems to Come?
Conficker - April Fools Joke, or Problems to Come?
April 1 -- was D-Day for Conficker, as whatever nasty payload it's packing was set to activate. What happened come midnight is a mystery. We anticipated getting three hundred phone calls when we got in to work yesterday. We waited, fully staffed, but nothing happened. A couple customers came in “thinking” they were infected – but scans proved otherwise. This is not to say this was an April Fools joke, it was and is very real, but the payload – whatever that may be – didn’t seem to happen on it’s “live” date as anticipated. So what was to happen on April 1st with Conficker? Was it meant to turn the millions of infected computers into spam-sending zombie robots? Was it to 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 mentioned, Conficker was scheduled to go “live” on April 1, but whoever is controlling it could potentially choose not to wreak havoc, but instead do absolutely nothing – waiting for a time when there’s less heat. This can be done by the way Conficker was designed – which is extremely clever: Rather than containing a list of specific instructions, the virus is written to reach out to the web to receive updated orders via a continuously growing list of websites it creates. Conficker.C – the latest version of the virus – will start checking 50,000 different randomly-generated sites a day looking for instructions, so the chance of finding and getting all of these sites shut down is slim to none. If just one of the sites goes live providing legitimate instructions, Conficker stays alive – waiting for it’s next set of instructions.

Conficker is a nasty, yet sophisticated worm that bypasses your security defenses. There is still a lot you can do, however, to protect yourself from this unknown disaster (or from nothing). Also, there are tools available from a number of companies (free) to remove the virus if you’re already infected.

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. This is done by restarting your computer, and tapping “F8” before your computer boots. If it doesn’t work, there’s a good chance you’re infected, after which 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
Malwarebytes
Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool

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, but should be used at your own risk!)

Anybody who doesn’t feel confident running these tools, or removing this or other viruses from their computer is welcome to bring their system to PlanetCPU (Elora Computer Service) for expert advice, removal and servicing of their systems for a more than reasonable price.

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.

In closing, it’s important to note that just because Conficker didn’t wreak havoc yesterday – the day it began searching for instruction, doesn’t mean that we’re safe from it. The only way to ensure that you’re safe is to ensure you’re protected (with the Windows Updates and Antivirus Updates) It could be a day, a month, or a year before Conficker receives instructions to perform malicious acts. It may never happen. Nobody knows, perhaps even its developers. As always, however, it’s better to be safe than sorry!

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact an expert from our team at PlanetCPU. We can be reached at 519.846.8338, or come visit us at 16 Mill Street East, Elora.
 

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