I was not one of these tech geeks. In fact, I first heard about Conficker only a few days back when CBS' 60 Minutes did a special on it. But from the little research I have collected in the past few days I have come to a simple conclusion: Conficker scares me.
What is Conficker?
Conficker is a computer worm that is already present on over 10 million computers, according to a Symantec estimate (creators of Norton Anti-Virus). Virtually no signs of infection exist
once the worm has found its way onto a system. It can also evolve very quickly, making it incredibly difficult to quarantine. Conficker is a sleeper virus, meaning that currently it is not active. It is only sitting in computers and waiting for a command to activate and start doing what it was designed to do.What does Conficker do?
Since it has not yet been activated, the intentions of Conficker still remain a mystery. Traditionally hacker viruses and worms gather private and safeguarded information like banks statements, social security numbers, and other sensitive data to help hackers steal one thing: your money. Viruses and worms can also be used to take down servers, launch spam attacks, and a whole lot more. Conficker could be any one or a combination of these.
Where did Conficker come from?
Just like Conficker's purpose, its origin is unknown. Many assume that it is Russian-made (those meddling Russians!) or German-made (Ces allemands se mêlant!). It was first detected in 2008 and has quickly spread since then.
Is there any good news?
No. We are all going to die.
No, really, is there any good news?
Actually, yes there is. First and foremost is the fact that Conficker has remained dormant. Just days before April 1st, the Internet was alive with chatter about Conficker receiving commands
and finally attacking. In the end, however, it was just an April Fools' rumor. The other bit of good news is that it only attacks the Windows operating system. Macs are safe as well as all Linux users (but really, who uses that?).So there you have it. A brief introduction of what could easily be the end of humanity as we know it. For more information consult someone who doesn't just pretend to know what they are talking about.
-Chad Waite, The Daily Derbi
P.S. Conficker is still a better option than this.
4 comments:
Great article. One thing. The worm is active.
"The worm did exactly what everyone thought it was going to do, which is update itself," security expert Dan Kaminsky, who helped develop a widely-used Conficker scanner in the days leading up to April 1, told us. "The world wants there to be fireworks, or some Ebola-class, computers-exploding-all-over-the-world event or God knows what, but the reality is...the Conficker developers have cemented their ability to push updates through any fences the good guys have managed to build in February and March. "http://i.gizmodo.com/5197148/how-the-conficker-problem-just-got-much-worse
Their purpose was not to have a big day of mayhem, they are building a sustainable network that will provide them with personal information for years to come.
I forgive you because you aren't Britton, the only person I know who actually knows what he is talking about.
anyone trying to steal money from me would be very disappointed... i think they would actually feel bad for me when they saw my bank account numbers
Chad, I love your blog. Especially the random links to other blogs that also happen to be written by you.
For this comment, my word verification word was slegg. Fun.
if Conficker is designed to go the whole way on this April Fool's angle, then it will strike on some other day besides April Fool's
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