PC Virus 'Time Bomb' Set to Go Off Within Hours

[FishingBuds]

So, I guess its gonna happen, supposly you are to turn off your computer? has anyone else heard anything differant?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,511813,00.html

[dallas0996]

I think this is the first virus where Microsoft has actually put a bounty out on someone...hehehe

[Tokyo Tony]

I love Macs  

[Glenn]

It's media hype again.  All up-to-date anti-virus programs effectively block this.  In addition, Microsoft released a patch for this back in October.  So unless you live under a rock and never update your computer - and all WindowsXP and Vista computers automatically do this unless you turn it off - you have nothing to worry about.

Much ado about nothing.

[CFFF 1.5]

So, I guess its gonna happen, supposly you are to turn off your computer? has anyone else heard anything differant?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,511813,00.html

Turning your computer off will only delay the process, unless you plan to leave your computer off.

Like Glenn said it shouldn't be anything to worry about.

One way to check if you have the virus is by trying to go to www.microsoft.com if the page says the page cannot be found then it is possible you have the virus. You will then need to find a link to the removal tool.

[done]

I can only HOPE it kills my laptop. I work with these for a living so if it goes, I will put it up, and go fishing.

Not going to happen though, the thing it patched to the teeth, and got some rock solid antivirus/spyware on it. Ahh well.

[Bassboy15]

I love Macs

Meeee toooo!!! 8-)

[=Matt 5.0=]

I love Macs

Word.

[FishingBuds]

Cool, Thanks guys

[hjerk24]

2X on the MAC FRONT.

I'm a Mac....I am fine.......

I'm a PC.....Help...I have crashed....and I can't get up......

"Just kidding...don't blast me!!!!"

[MitchIsFishin]

Quotes:

I love Macs

I'm a Mac....I am fine.......

I love this. Macs are EVERY bit as vulnerable. The Mac OSx is equally as susceptible to not only this worm, but numerous other viruses, yet Mac users don't seem to think so. The three whose Mac's I cleaned do now, though.

[hjerk24]

APPLE promised me......Viruses cannot hurt me...so that MUST be true...

[CFFF 1.5]

And you believed  them...lol...your time will come.

[hjerk24]

I will awake to see what tomorrow brings.  As far as the Apple comment....that, my friend was a stab at a joke/humor.

Good computing.....I mean fishing!

[J Francho]

Macs are for blouse wearing poodle walkers....

PCs are for pocket protector penny loafer wearing glasses fixed with a bandiad nerds...

Nerds use either because they like too...

Geeks get paid to use them...

I like both.  Macs are great for a no fuss machine.  Some of the higher end Macs are essential for video, audio, and image production.

I would hate to try and get my enterprise application development tools to work on a Mac.

All that said, I have so much money tied up in software licensing for my photography in PC, to completely convert to Mac would be cost prohibitive.  My image production machine has about twice as much horsepower than a comparable Mac, though, so eventually the cost of hardware will wash that out.

I'd be willing to bet that 90% of people using PC could convert to Macs with little pain, and be amazed at how easy the OS is to use.  Its just less "OS interference" when all you want to do is read your email, surf the web, upload your pictures, and chat with your friends.

Something interesting...I haven't run an anti virus suite on my production box in over five years.  Occasionally, I do a remote scan from another machine, and I've never had any virus.  I don't recommend this to the casual user though.  It takes quite a bit of configuration for both hardware and software, and very limited internet "surfing."

When PC falls from its market share, and something else takes over, it will be targeted by virus inventors, whom I suspect probably work for Symantec or McAfee, LOL.

[HOIST-N-HAWGS]

I purchased AVG on the advice of an internet security buff and so far so good. Been using it for 5 months and it blows the others away.

There is a link for a free download at the bottom.

Beware Conficker worm come April 1

Tue Mar 24, 2009 6:21PM EDT

See Comments (1517)

!In an event that hits the computer world only once every few years, security experts are racing against time to mitigate the impact of a bit of malware which is set to wreak havoc on a hard-coded date. As is often the case, that date is April 1.

Malware creators love to target April Fool's Day with their wares, and the latest worm, called Conficker C, could be one of the most damaging attacks we've seen in years.

Conficker first bubbled up in late 2008 and began making headlines in January as known infections topped 9 million computers. Now in its third variant, Conficker C, the worm has grown incredibly complicated, powerful, and virulent... though no one is quite sure exactly what it will do when D-Day arrives.

Thanks in part to a quarter-million-dollar bounty on the head of the writer of the worm, offered by Microsoft, security researchers are aggressively digging into the worm's code as they attempt to engineer a cure or find the writer before the deadline. What's known so far is that on April 1, all infected computers will come under the control of a master machine located somewhere across the web, at which point anything's possible. Will the zombie machines become denial of service attack pawns, steal personal information, wipe hard drives, or simply manifest more traditional malware pop-ups and extortion-like come-ons designed to sell you phony security software? No one knows.

Conficker is clever in the way it hides its tracks because it uses an enormous number of URLs to communicate with HQ. The first version of Conficker used just 250 addresses each day -- which security researchers and ICANN simply bought and/or disabled -- but Conficker C will up the ante to 50,000 addresses a day when it goes active, a number which simply can't be tracked and disabled by hand.

At this point, you should be extra vigilant about protecting your PC: Patch Windows completely through Windows Update and update your anti-malware software as well. Make sure your antivirus software is actually running too, as Conficker may have disabled it.

Microsoft also offers a free online safety scan here, which should be able to detect all Conficker versions

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Downadup (Conficker, Kido) infectionThe first version of this virus which is recognized by AVG as Downadup (alternativelly I-Worm.Generic) has been detected at the end of November / begining of December, 2008. Currently there are over 300 unique versions of this virus. AVG detects and protects against all known variants of the worm.

The main mean of infecting computers used by this virus is a security vulnerability in Windows operating systems, which is described in MS Security Bulletin MS08-67 released on October 23, 2008 (including links for respective Windows update files). Apart from using this security vulnerability, the virus spreads also across local networks by attacking weak passwords for shared folders, and using the Autorun function on removable devices.

To protect against the virus, it is necessary to install the mentioned Windows update and make sure your AVG is fully up-to-date. In case your computer is infected by this virus, it may not be possible to update your AVG Free correctly. In order to allow correct AVG Free update, please proceed as follows:

Open Start -> Run.

Type 'cmd'.

In the opened command line windows type the following command and press Enter:

net stop dnscache

It will be possible to update your AVG Free now. Once updated, run an AVG scan to remove the infection:

AVG Free -> Computer Scanner -> Scan whole computer

When the scan is finished, please restart your computer.

http://free.avg.com/download

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/worms/conficker.mspx

http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm?s_cid=sah

http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

[Dan:]

I purchased AVG on the advice of an internet security buff and so far so good. Been using it for 5 months and it blows the others away.

How does it blow the others away?

[Bankbeater]

Well nothings happened yet. So much for my work pc crashing and me being able to run out to the pond....

[J Francho]

I purchased AVG on the advice of an internet security buff and so far so good. Been using it for 5 months and it blows the others away.

How does it blow the others away?

By its transparent operation.  For an even lower resource overhead, take a look at NOD32.

[MitchIsFishin]

take a look at NOD32

Good advice from JF. Might also try Avast. Low overhead, good engine and decent UI. Use this on my only internet-active box.

As long as one stays away from Norton/MacAfee, you'll be good to go.

[Tokyo Tony]

Well nothings happened yet. So much for my work pc crashing and me being able to run out to the pond....

I was hoping the same. Oh well  :-/

[Tokyo Tony]

Quotes:

I love Macs

I'm a Mac....I am fine.......

I love this. Macs are EVERY bit as vulnerable. The Mac OSx is equally as susceptible to not only this worm, but numerous other viruses, yet Mac users don't seem to think so. The three whose Mac's I cleaned do now, though.

I know very little about computers, but I thought Macs had far fewer problems with viruses because the vast majority of viruses are written for PCs. Granted, that doesn't mean that Macs aren't vulnerable, but doesn't that mean that, at least as of now, Mac owners will experience little to no problems with viruses?

That has been my experience.

[Dan:]

Just think about it. Most mac users don't have or think they need a/v programs? All hackers need to do is learn to make a few viruses for macs and they have a large population of users with no protection who they can infect.

[Dan:]

I purchased AVG on the advice of an internet security buff and so far so good. Been using it for 5 months and it blows the others away.

How does it blow the others away?

By its transparent operation. For an even lower resource overhead, take a look at NOD32.

I was thinking more like "because it hasn't detected much stuff." Many people figure they aren't infected because their antivirus programs don't find anything. That's what makes me mad about AVG. Many people use it and think it is the end all a/v program but it has comparatively poor scanning and detection abilities. You could be using AVG and have a virus and not even know it but think because AVG's scan doesn't find anything that you are clean.

BTW, I definitely agree with NOD32 as an option. It barely uses any resources and has great detection rates. I ended up buying Bitdefender because it has similar detection rates and it was WAY cheaper for me to buy multiple licenses but NOD was great as well and does not drain on system memory very much at all.

[J Francho]

Just think about it. Most mac users don't have or think they need a/v programs? All hackers need to do is learn to make a few viruses for macs and they have a large population of users with no protection who they can infect.

What do you think the hackers are using, LOL....Mac or Linux.