Conficker worm: This Should be Interesting, One Way or Another

I've set this post to be published around 3:00 p.m., Central time (American) on April 1, 2009: April Fools day. If you're reading it, and it's still around April 1, 2009 - I'll pick that thought up a little later.

" 'Conficker' Worm Wakes Up Overseas, But It's Quiet"
PC Magazine (March 31, 2009)

"The 'Conficker' worm is live within Australia, security vendors have confirmed, where it is April 1. At this point, however, it remains quiescent.

"Security company Trend Micro has seen the Conficker or Downadup worm increase the number of DNS resolutions, as expected, said Paul Ferguson, the lead researcher for security intelligence, advanced threats research. At this point, however, the worm has taken no other action.

"Conficker is expected to hit the United States on Wednesday, April 1. But it is already a day ahead across the international date line, where Conficker is waking up.

"In recent days, the prevailing attitude toward Conficker has turned away from a threat that could wreak havoc upon the Internet, more toward an event that needs to be closely monitored, but not necessarily feared...."

If you're reading this on or near April 1, 2009, Conficker isn't cause for much concern - probably.

On the other hand, if it's well into 2009 by 'now' - we've found out what happens when significant parts of the Internet go down.

Back to the PC Magazine 'Conficker' Article

PC Magazine does a better job than most, of describing how the worm works. I think it's a pretty good resource.

Previous posts:

• "Downadup, Conficker Internet Worm, or Kido: Bad News"
  (March 30, 2009)
• "Downadup, Conficker or Kido: Whatever You Call it, it's Bad News"
  (January 25, 2009)