Last month the IT industry braced themselves against a large internet virus attack that was to activate on 1st April 2009 but as most internet security experts predicated it wasn’t going to be a dooms day virus as media outlets portrayed it to be. Instead, when April 1st arrived no major disaster occurred from the Conficker virus and as some major security companies reported, nothing happened.
Just because April 1st didn’t see a massive melt down of the internet doesn’t mean the Conficker virus isn’t a risk, far from it. The virus has been spreading through computer networks around the world and is now starting to show more signs of life. Trend Micro discovered the virus started releasing a new variant of itself named Worm_Downad.E that is being updated via peer-peer networks using infected computers.
So how do you get delete the Conficker virus?
Thankfully security experts have been acting fast to release utilities to help rid computers of this nasty virus. The Conficker Working Group have a neat little test to try that can help identify an infect machine. They also provide some removal tools to fix infected machines. McAfee also provide a stinger utility to help clean an infected machine.
Take that extra precaution
In any case your PC should be running with full anti-virus protection enabled and you should also be using a robust firewall solution, both of which can help prevent the spread of the virus. If you are using Microsoft Windows ensure you have downloaded and installed the latest patches from the MS update center.
Looking to read more about the Conficker virus?
If you are interested in learning more about the Conficker virus try some of these links:
- Conficker Work Group FAQ’s
- Trend Micro – The DOWNAD / Conficker Worm
- McAfee Threat Centre – About Conficker
- Definition of W32/Conficker.worm.gen.d
- The Conficker Worm
- Protect yourself from the Conficker computer worm
- Help Protect Windows from Conficker
- Conficker begins stealthy update
- Old worm learns new Conficker tricks
