You may have heard about the Conficker Worm from way back in 2008. It caused quite a scare as it was infecting a huge amount of computers, was able to spread on it’s own, and no one knew how to stop it. Well, at this point this worm isn’t as popular or thought of as much, especially as there are now patches and protections from it, however, this worm is still alive and well with an estimated 12 million computers under its control.
What makes this worm such a mystery and such a threat is that it is one of the most advanced worms created thus far and yet we still don’t know who is responsible for it. This worm combines the best parts of all previous forms of malware, enabling it to exploit almost any computer weakness, and fixing that exploit so that it can’t be used to infect the target system, making it so competing malware can’t gain access.
Once the worm is finally inside your computer, it just sits there, awaiting orders from its creators. Thus far the worm hasn’t wreaked any serious havoc, however, what has security experts worried is the damage it is capable of causing. With so many computers under its control and just waiting for an order, this worm, or the creator of this worm is capable of taking down any business system or larger infrastructure and even getting past every type of security and encryption system simply due to the amount of computer power it has under its control.
Currently no one knows why the Conficker Worm was created, who is controlling it, or what it might do next. However, one thing is for sure, if and when its creator does decide to use the worm, it will have the power to cause massive chaos.
To check if your computer is infected by this worm, head over to ConfickerWorkingGroup.org. If your computer is one of the estimated 12 million to be infected, you’ll also be able to find information on how to clean your computer.
(Story and image via The Urban Cowboy)
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