conf*cker

[Darren Dirt]

he worm is programmed to listen for orders on April 1, but beyond that, it's very unclear what exactly Conficker will do -- and that's what is worrying everyone.

It's not just Conficker's speed that is alarming; the virus continues to mutate, and security experts believe a highly organized, very professional group of cybercriminals with a high degree of technical knowledge is behind the worm.

"What makes this worm insidious is the communications it has used," Mark Parker, senior product manager at antivirus vendor Marshal8e6, told TechNewsWorld. "Before, worms would use IRC (Internet relay chat) or the Web; this one is using encrypted communications."

So far, three variants of the worm have been rolled out: A, B and C. The A variant uses a 512-bit key and an RSA-signed version with a 1,024-bit key; Variant B has a 4,096-bit key. In addition to encryption, Variant C creates an ad hoc peer-to-peer network, which makes it even more difficult to detect and prevent.

- http://www.technewsworld.com/story/viruses-malware/66666.html

^ funny URL eh?

But seriously -- cuz computer security is, after all, Serious Business -- tomorrow if anyone has first-hand experience with the impact, or non-impact, of this "scarier than Michael Myers" virus, share it here, reports from home or the office or cyber-illiterate friends and family.

I predict much Schadenfreude will be enjoyed!

[Tom]

Well they managed to fingerprint it, and people who care, should have the updates ready for april 1st. The virus suites should already have it ready for an update.

[Darren Dirt]

"Among security experts, the consensus seems to be that very little will happen today"

http://www.pcworld.com/article/162381/conficker_dday_arrives_worm_phones_home_quietly.html

[Lazybones]

Picked up a new stealth update now .c

[Melbosa]

NAIT hasn't seen even a peep of this thing.  Nothin' nada nowhere.  And usually some student laptop would be infected and brought into the place.

[Thorin]

I had to laugh at this are-you-infected-with-conficker eye chart:

http://www.joestewart.org/cfeyechart.html

The page explains what it means if you see all the images, some, or even none.  All the images are loaded from other websites, so if you have conficker some of them should be blocked.

[Lazybones]

NAIT hasn't seen even a peep of this thing.  Nothin' nada nowhere.  And usually some student laptop would be infected and brought into the place.

Main problem is that it doesn't really do anything accept block access to some AV sites and spread it self.. It is a lot less obvious than other infections that do more visible damage.

[Melbosa]

Yeah but it has a very simple test to check to see if you have it floating around your network.  Our probes and sniffers have turned up negative.

[Tonnica]

So far so quiet, aside from the spreading itself the virus hasn't really done much has it?

I can't help but think of Pandemic II and how I used to sneak in to almost every country (darn you, Madagascar!) with a virus that had no symptoms then mutated the heck out of it. Worked almost every time (DARN YOU MADAGASCAR!). I can't help but wonder if this virus just got tagged really well early on or if it just needs to spread more before it actually "does" anything.

[Tom]

From what I've heard, all it did was phone home, possibly get an update (say, to make it harder to find again).

[Darren Dirt]

So far so quiet, aside from the spreading itself the virus hasn't really done much has it?

I can't help but think of Pandemic II and how I used to sneak in to almost every country (darn you, Madagascar!) with a virus that had no symptoms then mutated the heck out of it. Worked almost every time (DARN YOU MADAGASCAR!).

"Takes too long"
by: 00poop7x
date: March 31, 2009

Like an MMORPG, you have to devote whole days at a time in order to get any success in this game. At least I found a sure-fire way to beat the game, Madagascar and all.

^ I would take that as a challenge, Tonnica

[Darren Dirt]

From what I've heard, all it did was phone home, possibly get an update (say, to make it harder to find again).

sure, for now ... but since it's encrypted traffic and uses P2P tech, who knows what it will do in the future?

[Thorin]

I can't help but think of Pandemic II and how I used to sneak in to almost every country (darn you, Madagascar!) with a virus that had no symptoms then mutated the heck out of it. Worked almost every time (DARN YOU MADAGASCAR!). I can't help but wonder if this virus just got tagged really well early on or if it just needs to spread more before it actually "does" anything.

Thanks, just wasted an hour trying to beat that game.  I got into Madagascar once!

also:

[Tonnica]

Much like a computer virus, infecting the vital yet difficult targets will net a complete infection spread. That isn't realistic in a real-world scenario so it's easier just to spread it as much as possible. New distribution methods make it easier with p2p but it still isn't a guarantee.

^ I would take that as a challenge, Tonnica

Oh I've got it down to an art after playing it for a few months:

• Select Parasite
  
• Restart the game until you begin in the southeastern hemisphere
  
• Increase the spread capability (airborne is preferable)
  
• Infect Australia, Madagascar, Argentina, and the Philippines
  
• Increase disease resistance
  
• Increase the spread capability again
  
• Up the game speed and steeple your fingers as you watch the world fall down
  
• Mutate with whatever symptoms you like when you get enough points
  
• Mwahahahahahahaha

[Tom]

From what I've heard, all it did was phone home, possibly get an update (say, to make it harder to find again).

sure, for now ... but since it's encrypted traffic and uses P2P tech, who knows what it will do in the future?

Indeed.  but the world was supposed to end on April first