Many top companies still infected with Conficker

**Glaswegian** · 05-21-2009, 01:44 PM

The Conficker worm is still active and is infecting 50,000 PCs a day warned a security researcher, who also said it continues to plague computers in many Fortune 1,000 companies.

The worm is infecting about 50,000 new PCs each day, according to researchers at Symantec, who reported Wednesday that the United States, Brazil and India have been hit the hardest. "Much of the media hype seems to have died down around Conficker/Downadup, but it is still out there spreading far and wide," Symantec said in a blog post.

Conficker began spreading late last year, taking advantage of a recently patched flaw in Microsoft's Windows operating system to infect entire networks and also using removable storage devices to hop from PC to PC. Security experts say it has now infected millions of computers worldwide, which now comprise the world's biggest botnet network.

"We can see that companies that spend literally millions of dollars on equipment and gear to prevent infections ... these Fortune companies have had this infection and it's stayed in their networks for a long period of time," said Rick Wesson, CEO of Support Intelligence and a member of the Conficker Working Group. "It's really hard and really expensive, and if the Fortune companies can't stop it, how can you expect small businesses to do it?"

The Working Group has set up so-called sinkhole servers that can communicate with infected machines. It has spotted infections within many Fortune 1,000 companies, Wesson said. "Everybody got hit," he said. "Even Microsoft still has infections."

http://www.techworld.com/security/ne...&NewsID=116212

**Mcninjaguy** · 05-23-2009, 03:11 AM

Really microsoft is infected?

TJ Belfiore · 05-23-2009, 05:48 PM

Ha. Microsoft is always infected.

icanhasclearCPU · 05-30-2009, 07:27 AM

sounds like it, but I did the conficker eye test, and I'm not infected. However, I am not too fond of people just skimming over an article about a virus, and then posting to turn off and unplug your computers on the day it is launched. That is definately not the solution, as I have seen both here, and know in hindsight.

TJ Belfiore · 05-30-2009, 03:50 PM

I'm gonna start calling you The "I am not too fond of" Guy.

thedarkwolf25 · 05-30-2009, 04:18 PM

wow, it's amazing the stuff out there. What exactly does this worm do? I have never really had any major virus problems.

**Glaswegian** · 05-31-2009, 08:37 AM

Start here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conficker

thedarkwolf25 · 06-01-2009, 03:51 PM

Thanks a ton for that link, wow that is a riot. It's funny how it's essentially warfare between MS and the worm's authors.

05-21-2009, 01:44 PM	#1 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 25,129 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 / Win 7 Pro My System Blog Entries: 10	Many top companies still infected with Conficker The Conficker worm is still active and is infecting 50,000 PCs a day warned a security researcher, who also said it continues to plague computers in many Fortune 1,000 companies. The worm is infecting about 50,000 new PCs each day, according to researchers at Symantec, who reported Wednesday that the United States, Brazil and India have been hit the hardest. "Much of the media hype seems to have died down around Conficker/Downadup, but it is still out there spreading far and wide," Symantec said in a blog post. Conficker began spreading late last year, taking advantage of a recently patched flaw in Microsoft's Windows operating system to infect entire networks and also using removable storage devices to hop from PC to PC. Security experts say it has now infected millions of computers worldwide, which now comprise the world's biggest botnet network. "We can see that companies that spend literally millions of dollars on equipment and gear to prevent infections ... these Fortune companies have had this infection and it's stayed in their networks for a long period of time," said Rick Wesson, CEO of Support Intelligence and a member of the Conficker Working Group. "It's really hard and really expensive, and if the Fortune companies can't stop it, how can you expect small businesses to do it?" The Working Group has set up so-called sinkhole servers that can communicate with infected machines. It has spotted infections within many Fortune 1,000 companies, Wesson said. "Everybody got hit," he said. "Even Microsoft still has infections." http://www.techworld.com/security/ne...&NewsID=116212 __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. PC Safety & Security::PC running a bit slow?::Donate::Photographers Corner

05-23-2009, 03:11 AM	#2 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Mentor, Games Team Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 10,390 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Many top companies still infected with Conficker Really microsoft is infected? __________________ If you have problem, PM me and I'll respond in the thread you made. power-supply-information-selection Nvidia Drivers ATI drivers Direct X

05-23-2009, 05:48 PM	#3 (permalink)
TJ Belfiore I said no but I wanted it Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Paradise, California Posts: 3,436 OS: 7 x64, XP x86	Re: Many top companies still infected with Conficker Ha. Microsoft is always infected. __________________ Regards, TJ Belfiore

05-30-2009, 07:27 AM	#4 (permalink)
icanhasclearCPU Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Location: Gettysburg, PA Posts: 4 OS: Windows Vista 64 bit edition My System	Re: Many top companies still infected with Conficker sounds like it, but I did the conficker eye test, and I'm not infected. However, I am not too fond of people just skimming over an article about a virus, and then posting to turn off and unplug your computers on the day it is launched. That is definately not the solution, as I have seen both here, and know in hindsight. __________________ I am personally tired of my computer illiterate family ><

05-30-2009, 03:50 PM	#5 (permalink)
TJ Belfiore I said no but I wanted it Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Paradise, California Posts: 3,436 OS: 7 x64, XP x86	Re: Many top companies still infected with Conficker I'm gonna start calling you The "I am not too fond of" Guy. __________________ Regards, TJ Belfiore

05-30-2009, 04:18 PM	#6 (permalink)
thedarkwolf25 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 358 OS: WinXP SP3 My System	Re: Many top companies still infected with Conficker wow, it's amazing the stuff out there. What exactly does this worm do? I have never really had any major virus problems. __________________ "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." ~Albert Einstein

05-31-2009, 08:37 AM	#7 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 25,129 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 / Win 7 Pro My System Blog Entries: 10	Re: Many top companies still infected with Conficker Start here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conficker __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. PC Safety & Security::PC running a bit slow?::Donate::Photographers Corner

06-01-2009, 03:51 PM	#8 (permalink)
thedarkwolf25 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 358 OS: WinXP SP3 My System	Re: Many top companies still infected with Conficker Thanks a ton for that link, wow that is a riot. It's funny how it's essentially warfare between MS and the worm's authors. __________________ "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." ~Albert Einstein