Conficker C - Making It's Rounds

You may not have heard but a new worm is going around called Conficker C. This particular virus is very well put together and as of yet a full fix for it has not been found. This will change very soon but you should take heed.

Conficker uses several different exploits to take over a users system. In the C version this threat is set to go active on April 1st. No one knows for sure what will happen on this date. This malicious software will go out on the 1st at look for it's master's code. Looking at similar threats in the past chances are it will download other malicious programs and fake antivirus software like Win XP antivirus 2009. While no one knows for sure what will happen this is generally what seems to happen. The makers' codes like this do such things in an effort to trick users into making purchases for fake software.

Looks at the source code you see that it changes the DNS services of Vista, XP and 2k. This basically means that you will be blocked from getting any updates to your operating system and around 200 other popular antivirus programs. Yes it's bad stuff but there are things you can do to prevent this kind of infection.

In addition you should make sure that your operating system is up to date and you have all the security updates. You will also need to ensure that your antivirus software has all the needed updates and that you are not using a free antivirus client. Free clients do not provide upfront protection. I have to take that back. There are a few that offer live protection but even the makers of those programs will tell you it's a very light version and will not fully protect you. A great resource site that was just started to address this threat can be found at Conficker C.

It will be interesting to see what if anything happens on April 1st. As a computer repair tech and having repaired tens of thousands of computers over my ten year I already know this bad boy isn't going anywhere and will be around for years to come. Just like Virtumonde, Smitfraud, Vundo and other similar threats they are here to stay and only get harder and harder to remove.

For more information on this check out my dedicated Conficker blog. If you are already infected with a virus then consider using this Computer Repair site for professional help.