April 8, 2009 7:28 PM PDT
Podcast: Conficker using P2P to spread payload
As CNET News has been reporting, researchers at Trend Micro have discovered that the
Conficker worm, which did basically nothing on April 1, is now updating itself by using a peer-to-peer network between infected Windows PCs to pass on payload instructions.
Because the worm's instructions are encrypted, as of 7:20 p.m. PDT Wednesday night, researchers were still unable to determine the nature of the payload, according to Trend Micro education director David Perry.
Still , in this audio podcast, Perry had plenty of information about how the worm is finally passing on instructions to infected PCs.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
Larry Magid is a technology journalist and an Internet safety advocate. He's been writing and speaking about Internet safety since he wrote Internet safety guide "Child Safety on the Information Highway" in 1994. He is co-director of ConnectSafely.org, founder of SafeKids.com and SafeTeens.com, and a board member of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Larry's technology analysis and commentary can be heard on CBS News and CBS affiliates, and read on CBSNews.com. He also writes a personal-tech column for the San Jose Mercury News. You can e-mail Larry or follow him on Twitter @larrymagid. 
