Conficker Worm strikes again!
It never ceases to amaze me how much negative press Microsoft gets when a new attack on Windows hits, when in fact, many times it’s undeserved.
As in example, several weeks ago, I did a short story on CBS news in Chicago about the out of band update Microsoft did in December. No hype. Just make sure your Windows is updated and your security software is updated and you’re safe. That’s all I said on television because that’s all that was required. Why scare the hell out of people when it’s so simple.
Now, we are hearing about how quickly the Conficker Worm is spreading. In the neighborhood of 3.5 million computers have been infected in the last few days according to ask F-Secure.
I don’t get it! I simply don’t get it!!
All people have to do is schedule their computers to do automatic updates at some time during the day when the computer is on. If you have a high-speed Internet connection you can choose to leave your computer on all night and it will update while you sleep.
I congratulate people who do this and also keep their security software current as they have no issue to be concerned about with this new worm.
If you have not got your system set to automatic update or you are not updating manually on a regular basis, shame on you. Turn on automatic updates!
This worm is particularly bad because if your password is weak your computer may get infected, you are external device like a hard drive or USB drive may get infected by this worm, and definitely if your copy of Windows is not updated and your security software is not updated your computer may get infected by the Conficker.B. worm.
If you are having difficulty logging onto your computer, doing Windows updates, or your security software won’t update, or you cannot access the Microsoft website or security websites, you have most likely been infected.
If you have a home network or small business network, all of the machines on the network may have been infected.
Am I writing this to scare you? Nope! I’m writing this to make you aware of the fact that you really don’t have to worry about issues like this if you just follow some preventative maintenance procedure on a regular basis and where you can let the computer do it automatically.
If you do have the Conficker.B. worm you won’t be able to download the patch or the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal tool unless you have an uninfected machine to do it from or I have made available on my website, in the blog at http://savedmybutt.com, the removal tool which can be downloaded directly from my site which is not blocked by the worm.
So, if you’re updated you have nothing to worry about, congratulations! If you’re infected, no problem. Go to my website at http://savedmybutt.com, download the repair tool from the blog, run it on every machine on your network, and then update your Windows and security software. That’s all there is to it.
See? Did that require all the hype and scare tactics that a lot of the media are putting out there about this worm?
Thank you. Have a nice day!
Mike DiMichele
Technology Specialist – Website Wednesday Night
WGN Radio 720AM – Chicago
http://wgnradio.com
11 Comments
Could Twitter Take Over Mainstream Media? | Chris Pirillo
January 19th, 2009
at 1:15am
[...] The Conflicker Worm is striking again already. [...]
Aryeh Goretsky
January 19th, 2009
at 3:59am
Hello,
I believe the worm is actually called Conficker, without an L in the name.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
Mike DiMichele
January 19th, 2009
at 11:19pm
Aryeh,
Thank you for noticing, I have corrected the post.
Mike
John Smith
January 23rd, 2009
at 4:09am
Well, yeah, except for the fact that in 3rd world countries, people usually pirate Windows. Yes, the entire office where I work uses pirated copies of Windows; no I’m not happy about this state of affairs.
Brian
January 23rd, 2009
at 9:33am
The big deal is that the architecture is flawed from the beginning. If Windows were properly secured in the first place, there wouldn’t be such a need to update constantly. The very notion that the operating system should be open by default is rediculous. It may be easy to work with but that’s exactly why viruses are so easy to write for the Windows platform.
paul
February 10th, 2009
at 12:16am
I’m afraid your link for the conficker tool don’t work, savedmybutt.com is just a site for people looking for what I’m not looking for, no blog whatsoever
Bob Dobbs
March 25th, 2009
at 2:18pm
You just don’t get it?
You’ll get it after you spend some time working IT in a company whose stability is threatened by “security patches” that BREAK INTERNAL APPS. In which case, deploying the patch untested can result in the loss of millions of dollars. Microsoft has an almost insurmountable problem with proper software design; one that reaches all the way down into their roots as a business.
Google the phrase “embrace and extend” to learn.
SA
March 30th, 2009
at 6:46am
I agree that Microsoft in no way could have forseen this issue, or the issue with Blaster or Slammer in the past. However, Windows does have a LOT of faults and internal problems that persist. Microsoft has become so focused on security, that in my opinion they have gone overboard with Vista. Now I’m prompted for every action and it’s actually counterproductive to use Vista when compared to Windows XP. Personally, I’ve used Linux for my personal business for over 8 years, and recently migrated to Linux at home, too. I have to receive/send files to customers on a regular basis, so now I can focus on working on my computer, rather than wasting time maintaining it.
http://members.apex-internet.com/sa/windowslinux
Dale Kerby
March 31st, 2009
at 5:13pm
What Brian said! Except he is being too nice.
Richard L Walker
April 12th, 2009
at 1:54pm
What Chris says is right BUT (and this is a HUGE but) what he says can not possibly be understood by tens (if not hundreds) of millions of people. Chris is a consummate geek. I’m a geek but he leaves me in the sand. I watch, however, as most folks are lucky to know how to turn on their PC and check their e-mail. PERIOD. “Turn on automatic updates” or “shame on you?” They have no idea. You might as well have added be certain to defrag your hard drives and scan your PCs completely for both viruses and spyware. They have no idea what you are talking about and don’t care to learn. As a result, we get the expected result. It ain’t pretty and it repeats every time there is a new virus. Life goes on.
sam
April 16th, 2009
at 1:06am
thanxs for update