Conficker

Since there is so much press going around about conficker, and with three versions in the wild and a possible forth version in the works (or maybe it’s hit the wild already), I thought it should listed in here somewhere for people to find out why this virus is getting so much press and why anti-virus companies are having such trouble eliminating it.

• First one for anyone with a little time to listen to a podcast, maybe on their way to work, and has an interest in how this virus is coded, in lay terms, and why it has the security community in such a bother, should check out this podcast by Security Now on TWIT. Not only do I recommend this podcast for anyone that has an interest in security, but also for those that just enjoy learning new things.  Leo LaPorte and Steve Gibson have a roundtable type discussion weekly on various techinical subjects from encryption algorithms to user questions, all explained in very layman terms that just about anyone can understand.  http://twit.tv/sn193

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• Snopes.com: This website has the origins, history, reward information and removal/protection information for conficker. http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/conficker.asp

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• Microsoft’s response article for conficker: http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/worms/conficker.mspx

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• Symantec’s response article for conficker: http://www.symantec.com/norton/theme.jsp?themeid=conficker_worm

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• PC World article on protecting yourself: http://www.pcworld.com/article/157876/protecting_against_the_rampant_conficker_worm.html

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• VERY easy eye-chart (based on the built-in domain blocking in conficker) that will show you in 5 seconds if you should check for conficker infection: http://www.confickerworkinggroup.org/infection_test/cfeyechart.html