Comments on: Week in review: The wicked worm that wasn't

Conficker does little more than frighten. Google offers an inside view, while Verizon packs promises. Also: Microsoft settles with TomTom.

[ITandrew]

I am shocked that cnet and other tech news sites have not picked up with the massive register.com outage from DDOS attacks........conflicker or no....major event since april 1.

[sobishop]

Who ever is responsible for this so called "worm" is going to announce the date that it will take place. Also, Microsoft will put out a patch for it before it is released. Anybody notice how completely ******* stupid these two sentences sound? I am pretty sure the culprit is not going to pick an actual date to commit a crime. I am guessing federal agencies have the ability to monitor major servers without their knowledge and would be able to trace where it originates from. And how does Microsoft have a patch for something that isn't active? The culprit could download the patch for themselves and then quickly alter the code for the worm to counteract it. April fools or not, this country is filled with morons.

[agentbb007]

Sobishop you are so newb it hurts. Computer security companies find viruses and look inside them to find out what they do. Sometimes these worms are programmed to attack on a certain date. So they do announce the date that the attack will take place.
On to your second point: after Microsoft patches the culprit will download the patch and counteract it. Wrong, the whole idea of a patch is to fix the problem that allowed the hacker in. Once the PC is patched no more hole for the hacker to use, so you are wrong after a patch a hacker cannot quickly alter his worm, he would have to start searching for another vulnerability to exploit.
"I am guessing federal agencies have the ability to monitor major servers without their knowledge" Let me use your own words anybody notice how completely stupid this sentence sounds? I can guarantee you no one is monitoring my servers except me. Now I have no idea but I guess it's possible Federal Agencies monitor general internet infrastructure to make sure it's not under attack, but I'm pretty sure it would be public knowledge not some underground hidden agency.
But you are correct on one point, this country is filled with morons and you are one of them. PWNED

[sdg61]

So glad to hear someone else can't believe the Register.com outage hasn't been reported by any news group. The DDOS attacls shut down millions of sites wreaking havoc for many companies. In the last three days the only place any one could find out anything was through Twitter. The first day Register denied any problems.

[sobishop]

@agentbuttbuddy007 Spoken like a true naive imbecile. Thanks for contributing to the decaying of this country with your stupidity.

[mbenedict]

@sobishop: i suggest you retake that computing-for-dummies 101 class you apparently flunked.

[Fil0403]

It's more popular to talk about malware threats to Windows, even if anyone running anivirus software and Windows properly updated is immune.

[reyes89]

Most ventrilo server sites where hit and servers where knoced down as well as accounts removed. My internet at home has been at 50% speed since march 31, my computer is not infected but since I have cable internet Im dependent on the amount of bandwith taken by all users in hte area, my internet being this slow indicates htat there is heavy usage of the bandwith alot more than normal.

There is a huge round of random emails that are people coming to you with "unique opportunitys" going around I myselff never read any like these they are usually random blabber, but these if u read them actually make sense and are a rather intereseting read, they all have the same premise, "My names bla bla bla, I have alotta money", "lets talk on skype so we can chat face to face", and "I need you to store some money for me". they come from interesting names, and usually from gmail, yahoo, hotmail, the only thing they have in common is that they are signed at hte bottom. "This message was created with IMP..."

Just because nothing happened when they said it would doesnt mean it wont, maybe the joke was to get everyboyd riled up, only so that it would hit another day, or maybe it is and the internet being slow and htose wierd emails are part of it its just not hwat people have come to expect.

From what IVe been reading the worm is a complicated one, the fact that it can open a door then get in and close it to prevent furhter access so i seems ike nothings been tampered is pretty damn smart, it leaves no trace. I dont think someone would do all this for an elaborate hoax, the hoax is prolly just covering what it will do.

[AdamB5000]

Has anyone entertained the idea that this worm is to anti-virus companies as Valentines Day is to Hallmark? Is there the possibility that this doesn't even exist?

[Lerianis3]

This does exist. It has been verified by Microsoft and numerous non-virus company people, so it does exist. The problem is that it was perhaps somebody's idea of an April Fools joke planned MONTHS ahead of time, in order to show how many idiots there are out there who hadn't patched their computers.

[MrMurder]

None of the computers in my house have been infected yet and they are all Dells, and NO they are not running Mac OS X. I wonder what the symptoms are if the worm attacks a XP computer, because it doesn't have Windows Defender. I guess the security programs will be inaccessable as well. Oh, and if your computer got infected, DO NOT buy a Mac. Just get Leopard, install it on your PC, and voila! You're good to go!

[tm_anon]

Or go the legal way and get Linux, install it on your PC and voila! You're good to go and you won't get sued.

[pentest]

There is a good chance that your AV software will miss it. Microsoft makes it insanely easy to hide processes.

[Lerianis3]

Wrong, pentest. There is not a good chance that your anti-virus software will miss it now. If you are running an anti-virus, and are able to get to Symantec's site or McAfee's site..... BRAVO! You're not infected or it's very unlikely that you are infected.

[littleM]

I have heard that the most secure PC to have is an Apple IIe. I doubt if anyone has written an Internet malware for it (though there are a few disc-based viruses, so watch those floppys). You may need to write your own browser (CGA mode, probably WAP-like), but no one will ever crack it. The 4800 baud modem might be a little slow, but there is no need for anti-virus software that slows your machine down. Most of all, you will be the first on your block (maybe first on your planet).

[coconutwil]

I noticed that Spyware doctor started hijacking my computer to a advertising page for their product to purchase the ( I have the free version) full version of their product. I think that conflicker was developed by the security companies just to get you to buy their products. In the past I have had my computer hijacked and big letter pasted on the desktop from another spyware company...could not get rid of it unless you bought their produce...The only way I got rid of it was to go back in windows xp 6 months and restore computer...

[Lerianis3]

That is because that thing that you downloaded, idiot, was not from a REPUTABLE anti-virus company. The things that you are mentioning that security software did...... you got PUNKED, it was actually malware!

Like I said in an earlier post: Symantec, Trend Micro, Kaspersky, McAfee, Panda... those are TRUSTED names, and are the only people you should be downloading antivirus programs from.

[tcr071]

AVG and Norton are trying to sell me anti-virus for this "worm" that the virus team cooked up a floor below.

Please tell me no one else finds it suspicious that no can seem to figure out where this virus came from or who wrote it, the "worm" does absolutely NOTHING harmful to your machine what-so-ever, and it is getting all of these security software companies a TOOOOONNN of free advertising.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist but this is just ridiculous...

[Hotcheez]

These posters' "Conspiracy Theory" is nothing new. Electronic security has always been a matter of trust. And we have always known that if the bad guys disappear, their big-money corporate adversaries lose big time. And we know that can't happen, right?

If you really believe its all a big joke, figure out a way to prove it and/or a lawyer who can prove it in a class action. You could make big money (I'm a lawyer, I know. And I've looked into it before.).

[geneven]

The real virus is the media hype that caused the hysteria. It's like the famous turn-of-the-century bug, remember that?

It is in the interest of the computer security companies to exaggerate these threats, and of course there are a few real threats as well. But commercial forces take advantage of our fears as much as possible.

[Fil0403]

Ditto; it's always popular to talk about security threats to Windows, it doesn't really matter if they are false, or harmless for anyone running antivirus software and Windows properly updated, or if the security vulnerabilities exploited by them were patched long before already.

[Fil0403]

It amazes me how much press (read hype) a worm 1) whose security vulnerability it exploits has been patched months ago, 2) for which there are fixes from all major security software vendors for weeks already, and 3) to which anyone running antivirus software and Windows properly updated is immune has; what a wonder the damage is practically 0.

[Lerianis3]

The damage is practicallly zero because the virus hasn't been told to do anything 'bad' yet.... just to listen. This is most likely a big April Fools joke by someone out there to tell businesses to get off their lazy butts and INSTALL PATCHES! Because those are the people who were getting hit by this thing: corporations who move slower than frozen molasses in getting necessary security patches out there.

[The_happy_switcher]

There's always my hope the next worm kills Microsoft windows for good.

[Lerianis3]

Then, what will the hackers target, jerkface? O S X! So you do NOT want Microsoft windows and your 'security through obscurity' OS that...... was punked first on day ONE of Pwn2Own to come up on the radar of the baddies out there.

[berny14willy]

I have been dealing with virus issues a lot this year, and I have tried several programs. I read some positive reviews in some of the forums and got the CyberdefenderFree. Yes, it is a little confusing about what is free or not, but the fact is companies need to make money else they can't support the software - and they use all kinds of ways do to that. You just got to know that when you install it. I really like the Cyberdefender interface, scan times and that it found what I knew was on the system, including several programs/viruses/trojans that some of the others (PC Tools, SuperAntiVirus and Norton) missed. I used it as a free scanner, but the free version does remove spyware and trojan, but you got to upgrade for virus. Eventually one came along, it caught it, and so I bought the upgrade. Ran Cyberdefender after the upgrade, and virus was gone