Virus worm april 2009

The site was sucking up data from 5, newly infected computers each day. The victims in the Prevx find are mostly everyday people handing over their passwords for Facebook and banking sites, along with their love notes and other e-mails. But more dangerous personal information is there, too, including Social Security numbers and other account information from one bank's infected computer.

Antivirus companies' worst fears realised as Conficker does It's April 1, and the Conficker worm is.. That doesn't mean it's doing nothing, but does mean that dire warnings from the internet security industry have once again worked against their best interests.

After weeks warning us that the Conficker worm aka downadup might set off an internet conflagration when millions of infected Windows PCs started looking today for new control codes, the worst possible thing has happened: Nothing. And they can also pry into your computer, since they have access to pretty much any file that isn't encrypted : Researchers from U. Topics Data and computer security Technology blog Computing Internet blogposts. But not always. Computer viruses and worms will cause your PC to exhibit many of the same symptoms as a failed or failing component or program.

How to disinfect a PC Whenever your system starts acting funky, the simplest remedy is to use Windows' System Restore feature to turn back the clock to a time when the machine worked. Note that many viruses and worms can outsmart System Restore, so this is far from a cure-all. Microsoft's Help and Support site offers step-by-step instructions for using System Restore in XP which also describes how to undo a restoration. Vista users will find information on System Restore and other system-recovery options for that operating system on the company's Windows Help and How-to site.

Even if System Restore appears to fix your PC, update your antivirus software's definitions and do a full system scan with the program. If you don't use AV software, download and install a copy. You'll find a list of free and low-cost antivirus programs on this Download. Another option for virus and worm removal is Microsoft's own Malicious Software Removal Tool , which can disinfect a PC but doesn't prevent infections. Worm program authors often hide in those countries to stay out of sight from law enforcement, he said.

In a way, the Conficker Cabal is also looking for the program author's fingerprints. DeBolt said security researchers are looking through old programs to see if their programming styles are similar to that of Conficker C. The prospects for catching the program's author are not good, Morganelli said. One quick way to see if your computer has been infected is to see if you have gotten automatic updates from Windows in March.

If so, your computer likely is fine, DeBolt said. Microsoft released a statement saying the company "is actively working with the industry to mitigate the spread of the worm. People who use other antivirus software should check to make sure they've received the latest updates, which also could have been disabled by Conficker.

The first version of Conficker -- strain A -- was released in late That version used Web addresses -- generated daily by the system -- as the means of communication between the master computer and its zombies. The end goal of the first line was to sell computer users fake antivirus software, said Morganelli. Computer security experts largely patched that problem by working with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to disable or buy the problematic URLs, he said.