[Update (April 3, 2009): Apparently, not much happened on April 1 with this virus. Many of the commenters below said this virus was a hoax, or at least not a big deal, but after poking around the web I would disagree. At best, opinions appear to be mixed on it; some people are saying it's nothing, others are saying it could have been bad. The virus itself is real enough, and the links below have more info if you're curious.]
This is not a joke: there is a worm getting spread on PCs called Conficker.C that will be activated on April 1 (no, this is not a joke) and may cause huge disruptions in the ‘net. My brother, who is a computer techie, has more on his blog, and he notes you can download a free removal tool at EnigmaSoftware.
Making sure your anti-virus software is up-to-date may not be enough, so if you use a PC be very careful with this! Don’t screw around; go to the above link right now, grab the tool, and check for this malware. I ran it on the two PCs in our house and we’re fine. Are you?
March 30th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Unless you are running Mac OS, Redhat Linux, Ubuntu Linux, SUSE Linux, OpenSolaris, etc.
There are many options besides the malware called Windows.
March 30th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
No conficker on my comp *phew*.
Although I must say I’m kinda looking forward to seeing what that virus actually does on April 1st. I hope it’s something cool rather than something destructive.
March 30th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
I recommend installing Linux *now*.
March 30th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
What if the removal tool gives my computer autism?
March 30th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Geez, did you even read about Conficker before you wrote this? Ever heard of Widipedia? A patch was issued for this in OCTOBER 2008! Do you really think people who don’t bother to install patches for 7 months are going to do anything else to avoid getting viruses? Stick to astronomy.
March 30th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Not the place really for Operating System Wars. There are perfectly valid reasons to be using Windows, just as there are perfectly valid reasons to be using OS X, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX or many others. Maybe not OS/2. [joke, for the OS/2 fanatics].
It’s a virus warning, leave it at that, please?
March 30th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
@ Flip;
And if enough people switch to Linux what happens then? If Linux or Mac win the OS wars and become predominate you’ll quickly find they have just as many security problems as Windows. It just wasn’t worth it to attack.
March 30th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
I ran it, it says “Conficker not found”.
Where do I go to get Conficker so that I can use this tool to remove it?
March 30th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Phil;
I’m getting a “Page Load Error: cannot establish a connection” on the enigma software link.
March 30th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
3 pcs clean and clear. Not downloading and running random crap from random websites and torrents = the win.
March 30th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I guess I don’t browse enough horse porn to have to worry about this.
March 30th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
If your PC had automatic updates turned on this was patched in October. Non-issue.
March 30th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
I browse a lot of horse porn, but I still don’t have to worry about this.
March 30th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Hey, I’m not saying I don’t! I just don’t browse enough
March 30th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Paul Smith has it right. This is mostly a nonissue, assuming you have the brains to actually a) let Windows updates run, and b) don’t have an expired-five-years-ago trial version of Norton as your only line of defense against viruses.
March 30th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
You only have two PCs?
March 30th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Yep, I’m clean. The contrary would’ve surprised me really.
Thanks for the warning!
March 30th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
@Magnus,
What, there’s Mercury in the removal tool? Oh noes!!!!!11one!!
March 30th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Tim, I did read about Conficker. That’s an old version, and there’s a new one coming out. Don’t you know the law on the internet about making fun of people?
March 30th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
LOL @ Magnus! Brilliant!
March 30th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
“Don’t you know the law on the internet about making fun of people?”
Make sure you do it anonymously?
March 30th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
@Flip. That’s a rather redundant list of operating systems. Essentially, people have one of two main choices, a *NIX based Operating System (which, outside of OS X is extremely flexible in customization options), or Windows. I never run into issues with my two desktops which run Windows. It just requires that you learn some basic knowledge on PC operations. It’s akin to buying a car and not learning how to care for it. No matter how expensive, eventually it will break down from improper care.
What the worm will do on April 1st, is something that the previous two variants have already done. It will just will circumvent the measures put in place to prevent the previous variants from attempting to query and connect to domain names which may house vulnerable servers/PCs. The part that concerns security specialists is that there is some obfuscated code related to how it creates peer-to-peer (PC to PC) connections to deliver the payload.
March 30th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Oh crap, I guess I’ll have to-
Oh, that’s right, I use Apple. Nevermind =D
March 30th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
It probably won’t cause too much damage. For something this big and complicated, it makes more sense to sell it. It’ll probably be just used for spam. It’s annoying, but not catastrophic.
March 30th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Yes, Conficker is serious business, because it’s probably the most feature-ful botnet type virus out there. Whoever wrote this could have had any of a number of intents. However, other commenters have it right in that it probably won’t cause too much damage, mostly because antivirus people, DNS people, ISP people, etc., are all working diligently to try to stop the worm from even contacting the mothership when it decides to do so.
One thing I absolutely deplore in this thread and others regarding viruses is the sentiment that all you have to do to avoid them is to not download stuff or open random attachments. Those truisms were much more true several years ago. Nowadays a virus’ attack vector is based mostly on what has operating system level permissions on your computer. On Windows, that includes pretty well any Microsoft product, e.g. Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, or anything else that needs to hook itself directly into the OS to function properly (and by “properly” I mean “by design”, not “error-free”).
On Linux, MacOS, etc., escalations of privilege are rare and usually patched in far shorter order than in the Windows world. This is not an attempt at turning the thread into an OS war, it’s a simple fact — what makes one operating system more vulnerable than another is not the single hole that it gets in by, and it’s not really even the patch turnaround time — it’s more often than not the underlying architecture.
March 30th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
You know, all of you that tout Macs, that even hackers ( http://is.gd/o5W9 ) say that hacking Macs is the easiest of all? Its just “security through market share”. *Sigh*.
@Tim: This is a new variant, I’m not sure that the previous patch will still hold. It’d be kind of pathetic of the virus writers if it did.
March 30th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
From what I’ve been reading on this worm, I don’t think we have anything really nasty to worry about on April 1. It’s looking like this is an “automatic update” of the worm, to snatch the latest version of it. This probably means that if you have Conficker C, and you don’t get rid of it before April 1, you’ll end up with some new variant of the worm that nobody is going to know how to detect or remove for some time, which means that your PC will likely continue to be used to perform illegal activities (such as breaking Captcha or sending spam…though I’m not sure anybody knows precisely what the Conficker-infected computers are being used for).
March 30th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Thanks Phil for the link to a tool that does something about it. I keep my PC up to date with Norton Internet security but a second way of checking is always useful.
March 30th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Sid says to run it every day until he gives the “all clear.” Don’t rest on your laurels just because you don’t have it today. One click on the wrong link and you may have it tomorrow. Kinda like herpes.
March 30th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
I’m skeptical. Perhaps this “removal” tool is really tool to make us all look like tools? lol.
March 30th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Not every anti-virus will catch it, but the high quality ones such as AVG seem fully capable of the job as long as they’re set up to moniter your net browsing. Keep Windows up to date and you’ll also be safe from this one.
It’s easy to hear a report about the latest scary virus and think doom’s approaching, and this one may just hit enough to get a mention on the news if only because of the dated activation. However as a general rule basic precautions can prevent you from even having to worry about such things.
It’s true that drive-by exploits are the current main mode of attack, so the thing to remember is to just be careful of the web sites you visit. Try to avoid pretty much any underbelly thing, or generally any web site with more than 2 suffixes. It’s not like most of those offer all that much anyway and one can live without their illegal torrent downloads of Zoo Tycoon.
March 30th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
@PeterC
“There are perfectly valid reasons to be using Windows…”
Oh, that tired old canard.
March 30th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
I’m still getting page load error on the Enigma Software site. Everyone in the world must be trying to get this tool.
March 30th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Tested and good to go!
March 30th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I feel this is all getting a little hyperbolic, botnets are bad, this is true. And the authors of confickers have certainly got people’s attention by having their deadline on it.
However, the fact is hacking nowadays is not the “teenagers spreading anarchy” it used to be 10 years ago. Computer crime is big business nowadays and like any other business legal or not their aim is to make money not to break things. The internet will not stop working tommorrow, or any other doomsday eqsue predictions. Silently sitting back and sending spam is one of the most common uses for botnets, or a net this size could possible be used to blackmail large websites on threat of ddos, but they’re hardly going to “take down the internet” like i’ve heard people claiming, they need the internet to make money!
Clean your system, run an anti-virus, be careful, but dont be too worried about this.
March 30th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
For anyone that can’t get the Enigma site to load (or anyone, like me, that has never heard of Enigma), Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool should work just as well.
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx
It searches for all forms of malware in its database, so it’ll take a lot longer than a targeted scan. But that’s more of a plus.
I still think this is nothing to worry about (no more than any other malware). The attention this is getting doesn’t necessarily speak to the severity of the worm, only its marketing ability.
March 30th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Don’t panic too much. Be sure your Windows is patched up.
See this:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=4053
March 30th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
I’ve downloaded the tool, but for some reason it won’t run! I’ve tried both “cfremover.exe” and “./cfremover.exe” from an XTerm, but I keep getting “bash: ./cfremover.exe: Permission denied”.
Did I chmod it wrong? Do I need to “su” to root? Do I need to install Wine??
March 30th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
I found a free beta on TrendMicro.com called RUBotted. It runs in the background watching for signs of bot activity then alerts you. It said I have no bot activity! Yay!
March 30th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
It’s great you’re bringing this up BA; many people might not know about that worm yet.
@Tim: was the patch successful? How was it propagated? Did the patch remove the malware from infected systems? Why should people make ridiculous assumptions like the one implied here:
Tim, you can bet I wouldn’t hire you to look after computers with that attitude you’ve got.
Let me look at my computers: Linux, linux, linux, linux, linux, and linux. Nope, no conficker worm.
March 30th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Hmm. I downloaded the tool, ran it, hit “scan”, and immediately got the message that I was clean. How sophisticated is this tool, that it can run so fast?
March 30th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Windows Free since 2003! Linux all the way, Baby!
Yeah, I understand there are perfectly legitimate reasons to run Windows, particularly for certain games or vertical-market applications. But at home, I don’t touch the stuff. It’s just too much trouble.
As for the notion that Linux would be just as targeted if it had the same market share, that may be true. But it still wouldn’t be nearly as bad, because Linux (like UNIX) was designed for security from the ground up. Nothing gets root (admin) permission without me knowing and approving it.
March 30th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Off topic
YouTube has banned the JRF foundation ?
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/03/youtube_has_banned_the_james_r.php#comments
March 30th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Exactly why I run Linux – I don’t have to worry about this kind of stuff anymore. Free since 2001.
March 30th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
I know, I know… not the place for OS wars, but misinformation is misinformation.
@Dan
>> And if enough people switch to Linux what happens then? If Linux or Mac win the OS wars and become predominate you’ll quickly find they have just as many security problems as Windows. It just wasn’t worth it to attack.
The big difference with Unix/Linux, setting aside any arguments over which one is inherently more secure, is that virus writers will have to write exploits in broad daylight since everyone can see the original code they are trying to exploit.
I’m not saying that because of this there won’t be vulnerabilities (that’s naive), but it does change the playing field in a significant way.
Thanks for the link Phil!
March 30th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Goog luck everyone.
I’ll be watching from far with my two laptops running Linux…
:: watches the MSN butterfly wandering around ::
Honey…? Do you remember where we left our bug zapper?
March 30th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Linux Free since 2005 and loving it
Personally, i know of more rooted linux boxes on the net than Windows machines with this crap on it. Its amazing how many colo boxes, home linux boxes, virtual servers, cpanel machines and other linux crap out there is hacked and nooo one knows (or cares) – yet, linux users preach about security as if linux was borne with a bullet proof vest.
I mean, just fire up a bit torrent client and download say, windows 7 7068 off mininova, then capture all the IP’s that show up as peers. Then go run port scans on those IP’s and realize how many of those are hacked virtual servers, linux boxes and virtual machines where someone has rooted them and installed fxp/ftp/torrent clients and is using all your bandwidth to distribute pirated software..
Botnets aren’t just a thing for windows. They’re just easier to do without no one noticing in linux
March 30th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Phil, Phil… do yourself a favor and read vmyths.com sometime.
Over the years, there has been a long, long string of predicted DOOM viruses set to strike on various dates, with gajillions of computers “potentially” infected. Remember Michelangelo? The hype said it infected some five million computers (back in 1992, when there were a lot fewer computers out there). Well, March 6, 1992 came and went, and how many computers were hit? A few thousand at most.
These doomsday predictions are largely written by the antivirus companies, who spread the hype in order to boost their sales. If you look at their track record, their prophecies of doom are about as accurate as those of the end-of-the-world doomsters. Don’t contribute to this virus hype. I mean, you’re the president of JREF and all, it would be good of you to put on your skeptic’s glasses. Even if your brother is a computer techie.
Seriously, if you go back and review the infection rates in a couple days, I bet you’ll find that April 1 doomster predictions are just as ridiculous as that Mayan 2012 calendar crap. My hope is that you’ll actually follow up on this and not embarrass yourself the next time the antivirus industry hypes a nonexistent threat.
March 30th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
How do I know that this isn’t another virus, telling me to get virus removal software which will actually be the virus? Is Phil Plait even real, or is he just a computer program, like RUDI from the Jettsons?
March 30th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
I’m so grateful for the undoubtedly sincere concern of Mac-ites and other Unix derivative users for my workstation’s well being. Don’t worry, it wears protection and I’m not an antivaxer.
I also run Photoshop CS4’s 64 bit version and none of you scaredy cats with your girly/geeky OSes can do that. Man up and run Windows if you swing any brass, but compute responsibly!
March 30th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Bramblyspam, did you go to vmyths.com? I just did, and he doesn’t talk about this new version of Conficker that I saw. It’s possible this is all hype, but so far I have seen nothing to indicate it.
March 31st, 2009 at 12:09 am
@HJ Hornbeck:
Sounds like you’re on a Linux machine. Typically, “.exe” files are executables for Windows systems. Normally I’d recommend you look for the Linux version, but in this case there probably isn’t one, as this virus is targeted specifically at Windows, so you should be safe.
March 31st, 2009 at 2:18 am
O rly said: “Essentially, people have one of two main choices, a *NIX based Operating System (which, outside of OS X is extremely flexible in customization options), or Windows”
OS X *is* extremely flexible in customization options. As flexible as BSD actually, as OS X is BSD with a number of added layers. Of course, almost nobody does change the standard configuration, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible.
Regarding security, OS X is possibly not more secure than Windows or Linux, but it’s safer for the time being because there’s little malware to target it. So far the few and only malware on the Mac are of the trojan kind: they try to convince you to surrender your administrator password, thus escalating their rights through “social” engineering.
The recent pwn to own contest made the news recently because a researcher pwned a Mac in less than a minute. It’s fair to put that in context: this guy had spent an undisclosed long time in advance researching, finding a Safari vulnerability, developping an exploit, only to simply run it at contest time. Moreover, his exploit only gave him user access, not root access.
Granted this is bad enough. But it’s not the first, nor the last vulnerability found in OS X. It will be closed. Until next one. In any case, the internet is a dangerous place for all, whatever the OS. We all need to be careful, and get informed. I already have a very hard time educating my family *not* to click on links in spam mail.
And by the way, there may not be good reasons to use Windows, but there are bad ones that are difficult to avoid. I am currently trying to convince my employer to let me use a Mac at work, with little chances to succeed. It wants me to use a PC for no good reason whatsoever (I could explain it all, but it’s not the right place).
March 31st, 2009 at 2:22 am
Earl’s TV: “Yeah, I understand there are perfectly legitimate reasons to run Windows, particularly for ALMOST ALL games”
There, fixed it for ya.
And yes, this hype from linux zealots about security of linux is laughable. Nothing was, is or will be secure. “Year of Linux” on desktops, thing that so many penguinists yearn so much for so long, will be bad year for them. Really, really, really bad.
March 31st, 2009 at 2:25 am
Phil – Conficker is also known as Downadup, the Vmyths site seems to prefer that name. Yeah, the guy hasn’t posted about it recently, but the pattern is a very familiar one by now. My apologies for not referring you to a more specific link in my previous post.
For more detailed info specifically addressing the latest & greatest, check out (for example) F-secure’s Q&A on the topic. The bottom line is that Conficker (by whatever variant and name) won’t do much of anything on April 1 that it wasn’t already doing on March 31. You should keep your computer clean, of course, but even if you’re infected, you almost certainly won’t notice anything different on April 1. Your computer will not melt into a puddle of goo or blow up in a shower of sparks, and the Q&A site explains why. I predict this will be a big non-event, a la Michelangelo or Y2K.
I do hope you’ll check on the numbers in a few days. If it turns out I’m wrong, feel free to lash me with a wet noodle. If I’m right, then hopefully you’ll take virus hype with a larger grain of salt next time.
March 31st, 2009 at 2:32 am
Oh Phil…for goodness sake…what is a professional like you highlighting and spreading a silly nonsense-threat like this? Most PC’s today have firewalls and virus software to detect this bug/worm. Conficker has been around for ages, and has been detected by virus softwares for ages, too. Maybe some years back threats like this were a worry, however, today’s anti-virus softwares are getting an increasing hold in this area — in some instances way ahead.
To those who are worried, this is not a serious threat! Most likely your PC virus software (and Windows Patch update offered awhile back) will take care of this bug/worm.
The fact that April 1 is being quoted as the date that it will happen is just a nonsense too, as anyone knows hackers can cause these worms to occur on any date.
Phil, you also mention two things above — firstly, your brother’s blog, and secondly, a software. Is your post simply a way of highlighting these – hmmm???
John
March 31st, 2009 at 3:27 am
An even easier way to test whether you’re infected or not:
Can you get to any of these websites with your browser?
http://www.f-secure.com
http://www.symantec.com
http://www.mcafee.com
(there are others, I know). Try this on all of your PCs.
One of the things this worm does is to block access to many security sites (including antivirus software sites like these). If you can’t get to _any_ of these sites, but can still get to non-AV sites (you’re reading this, aren’t you?), then it’s time to worry.
This, of course, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep your PCs’ patches up-to-date. And by all means, try any of the available removal tools if you’re still worried.
More information:
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001636.html
(no, I don’t work for F-Secure. It’s a good, reliable source of information, though).
March 31st, 2009 at 3:47 am
I run both Linux and Windows. Typicaly, I find both have their uses.
March 31st, 2009 at 5:26 am
Hate to double comment. Spybot comes up wit h Spyhunter as a malware (claims to be antivirus solution). Not saying the tool itself doesn’t work but you may want to run several other scanning methods. (I’m running both Adaware and Spybot scans to be on the safe side on both machines)
March 31st, 2009 at 6:25 am
@Bramblyspam said: Over the years, there has been a long, long string of predicted DOOM viruses set to strike on various dates
You can thank all the IT folks who work their butts off to make these things have less of an impact than they might otherwise of done. IT has got to be one of the most thankless jobs in the world, up there with garbage collectors and teachers. You can’t tell when they’re doing a good job because NOTHING HAPPENS to your data. You can only tell when they do a bad job, and everything is hosed.
You appear to have no idea how much work goes into keeping your computer safe from all the attacks out there. Work you never pay for because it’s happening somewhere else, but you benefit from it because of volunteers and businesses taking a -loss- who make their products available so people can avoid these problems. They don’t do it for the glory, because there is no glory to be had. They do it out of a sense of duty to the community.
Your post comes across as not only ignorant but stubbornly ungrateful for the work that thousands of programmers do to keep you and your data safe.
Believe me, if they -weren’t- sending out all these warnings, and providing patches, and encouraging people to follow best practices for ptorection, you’d be shrieking and screaming about how there should be someone warning you about this stuff the next time everything you’ve ever written gets eaten by some malware and you didn’t actually bother to back up your system, like the IT people suggested.
March 31st, 2009 at 6:27 am
I have come to the conclusion that ANYONE who is responsible for creating and deploying computer viruses and worms is deserving of the death penalty. Seriously. When you consider the potential harm that one mischievous computer geek can inflict on the electronic infrastructure that we have come to rely on, I do NOT think this is an overreaction. Flush him out the airlock, I say.
March 31st, 2009 at 6:28 am
FUD? On Bad Astronomy? Surely not!
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/032709-fears-of-a-conficker-meltdown.html
March 31st, 2009 at 6:29 am
Chris Says:
March 30th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
“It said I have no bot activity! Yay!”
Does it also check if you pass the turing test?
March 31st, 2009 at 6:50 am
Clear here.
March 31st, 2009 at 7:21 am
@Chuck: In China perhaps, but in the civilized world; NO!
March 31st, 2009 at 7:27 am
The thing about Conficker is that it shuts off Automatic Updates on your computer. So if you get infected, even if you think you have Automatic Updates running, you don’t. No patch for you.
March 31st, 2009 at 7:30 am
MaDeR: Yes, quite. There are inherent flaws in the x86 architecture that make it completely impossible to fully secure any x86 computer, regardless of how secure and well coded the OS is.
This is compounded by the fact that there are inherent flaws in the very concept of return oriented programming which make any program coded in such a fashion insecure, even if it has no flaws in and of itself.
So while I understand and accept that Linux is *more* secure than Windows (everyone accepts that, I’m sure), Linux simply can not ever be completely secured, even if it itself becomes perfect in every way.
March 31st, 2009 at 8:33 am
That Pwn2Own interview link near the top is really good. I wish I could find a discussion on whether Linux uses address randomization like Windows, though.
March 31st, 2009 at 9:25 am
Do you have any references to what you’re talking about here, and to alternative programming models (like continuations, maybe)? This sounds fascinating.
March 31st, 2009 at 9:30 am
Address randomization is included in Linux 2.6, so it has been around for several years. I don’t know offhand how widespread it is, though, e.g. if it is turned on by default in popular distributions. (Assuming it’s the sort of thing that can be turned off at all, which seems likely with Linux.)
March 31st, 2009 at 10:12 am
FYI, an interesting geeky analysis of Cornficker:
http://mtc.sri.com/Conficker/
All this talk about Linux vs. Windows vs. Mac is irrelevant to the near-term issue. If you are suggesting people switch from Windows to Linux||Mac overnight, you need to look in the mirror to see how geeky you are getting. Long-term, we need to migrate to machine architectures that support DEP.
March 31st, 2009 at 11:41 am
“I predict this will be a big non-event, a la Michelangelo or Y2K.”
That always cracks me up. Y2K was a non-event because corporations spent millions and millions of dollars preparing for it. That is all this post was about. Yeah, this will be a non-event if you sent 10 seconds and check if your computer is clean.
March 31st, 2009 at 11:59 am
No kidding. That kinda irks me, too, especially as one of those who was doing the fix-y stuff.
March 31st, 2009 at 1:37 pm
My wife says how do we KNOW the free uninstallers out there are not themselves malware? Who guards the guardians? Boy is she paranoid. Gotta admire that. Seriously I suppose you can trust Symantic or Bit Defender or (don’t laugh) Microsoft….
March 31st, 2009 at 2:02 pm
If you don’t know what your talking about stop posting. Do you Linux dorks ever shutup? “Your” OS is a good OS, with its own benefits and its own drawbacks, just like Apple and just like Microsoft. I cannot stand the religious following you morons attach to an operating system. It is like attaching yourself to a brand of microwave or digital alarm clock. If it works for you, use it, otherwise shut up and let people decide for themselves which OS they would like to use.
March 31st, 2009 at 2:07 pm
@ Siobhan
Working in IT is unfortunately no different than most other professions. There are a select few who know what they are doing or at least do the research and a huge number of people who rattle off non-sense and crap they just read off of a recent blog.
Symantec & Microsoft patching their products is not “IT”, so your local IT staff doesn’t really do much of anything to protect your computer from viruses. They probably just accept a patch and push it through automatically with software someone else wrote.
There is a fundemantal flaw with AV software, and that is that it is always playing catchup to virus writers. Do yourselves a favor and ditch AV software all together (even on Windows) and stop surfing the internet like you have a hole in your head. It’ll give you back some RAM and CPU time and you won’t be in any danger.
March 31st, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Also don’t forget it’s April fools tomorrow.
March 31st, 2009 at 3:41 pm
mann i hope that doesnt get on my comp.
i’m not going on it tomorrow!
too scared -.-
okay when i was in my gate way to technology class (which is for 6th graders…i am one) we were watching the news, then they were talking about this virus what they said was if your computer is not shutting down or wont let you go to secure sites like mcafee then turn off your internet.(so they won’t steal your information.) well if what i said helps, i hope it helps everyone ^.^
lol this was the first thing i did when i got home from school. trying to warn the world!!! help others world peaceeeeee!
~may
now off to read honey hunt!
~runs away like a retarded unicorn~
March 31st, 2009 at 3:46 pm
micheal jackson XD
stutter!!!!
lol i’m so randumm…
(i am not a micheal jackson fan btw)
March 31st, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Billy Bub has it right… don’t be a moron and you’ll probably never get a virus. It is an interesting thing about the Linucks/McEntosch/whindoes issue, everyone has what they like and it is, of course, perfect. ….. However after reading information on the site that was linked to, it is no wonder Phil rallies against the things he does.
March 31st, 2009 at 7:03 pm
All of this makes me laugh
Personally on my home equipment I dont run any anti virus firewall ect.. If you take the time to truly understand the tool you are using you can use the system itself to protect itself. Yes i ocasionally have to deal with a bit of spyware but i know my systems well emough that its never been a problem. The problem is those people who turn on the machine run the programs and never take the time to understand what they are doing. yea they can surf the net, install stuff even do a little hacking but when it comes down to it they really dont know what is going on.
Personally I think Microsoft has done a fine job of providing us with a robust configuable operating system. Yes they have made some mistakes over the years Millenium and Vista in that list but they have allways stood up and fixed most issues.
Sorry just wanted to get that off my chest
March 31st, 2009 at 7:13 pm
jeepers, this is scaring me.
March 31st, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Well I’m glad I only use Macs and Linux based systems!
March 31st, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Related to this worm, could someone do me a favor and go into the My Documents folder and search for a folder titled ³Ø½¼ Ç÷¯±×
I’m not entirely sure if this is related to conficker, but this folder is empty and was created this morning at 7:23 AM about two minutes after I powered on my computer, and AVG went ballistic with a file with a similar name.
March 31st, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Sorry for the double post!
I googled and it says that folder is related to a freeware game, but I don’t have that! Any other possible explanations?
April 1st, 2009 at 12:54 am
“My wife says how do we KNOW the free uninstallers out there are not themselves malware? Who guards the guardians? Boy is she paranoid. ”
Maybe not so paranoid. After recommending the Enigma removal tool to everybody on all my lists yesterday, I got forwarded this link:
http://boards.cexx.org/index.php?topic=6549.0
April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 pm
I agree with the view abover all these sites that state you need to download this tool to remove the worm probably have malware in them. If the majority of computer experts as well as Microsoft state keeping your windows updates current and your andi-virus that is probably all that is needed. For what its worth I haven’t heard of any major problems yet today.
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Computers and astronomy. Who’d have thought those two terrific interests/careers would run in Phil’s family.
Back on topic. Leo Laporte (knowledgeable good guy) said if you have been having trouble connecting and downloading your AV definitions & Windows security updates, it could be a sign your computer is infected (barring temporary ISP or web site problems). You’d definitely want to run a removal tool (from trusted sources) if you notice those types of persistent connection problems. Three things can help keep you safer on the Internet. Update, update, and update. Leo also said once a virus/worm gets on your computer and opens doors, the surest way to get rid of it permanently is to reinstall your OS and apps from scratch. Painful but sometimes necessary.