Ten months on, Conficker still prowls the world.
200 COUNTRIES AT RISK
Ten months on, Conficker still prowls the world
Ten months on, Conficker still prowls the world
John Markoff August 30 2009, Times of India Bangalore
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It is still out there. Like a ghost ship, a rogue software program that glided onto the internet last November has confounded the efforts of top security experts to eradicate the program and trace its origins and purpose, exposing serious weaknesses in the worlds digital infrastructure.
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The program, known as Conficker, uses flaws in Windows software to co-opt machines and link them into a virtual computer that can be commanded remotely by its authors. With more than five million of these zombies now under its control government , business and home computers in more than 200 countries this shadowy computer has power that dwarfs that of the worlds largest data centers.
The program, known as Conficker, uses flaws in Windows software to co-opt machines and link them into a virtual computer that can be commanded remotely by its authors. With more than five million of these zombies now under its control government , business and home computers in more than 200 countries this shadowy computer has power that dwarfs that of the worlds largest data centers.
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Alarmed by the programs quick spread after its debut in November, computer security experts from industry, academia and government joined forces in a highly unusual collaboration. They decoded the program and developed antivirus software that erased it from millions of the computers. But Confickers persistence and sophistication has squelched the belief of many experts that such global computer infections are a thing of the past.
Its using the best current practices and state of the art to communicate and to protect itself, Rodney Joffe, director of the Conficker Working Group, said. We have not found the trick to take control back from the malware in any way.
Alarmed by the programs quick spread after its debut in November, computer security experts from industry, academia and government joined forces in a highly unusual collaboration. They decoded the program and developed antivirus software that erased it from millions of the computers. But Confickers persistence and sophistication has squelched the belief of many experts that such global computer infections are a thing of the past.
Its using the best current practices and state of the art to communicate and to protect itself, Rodney Joffe, director of the Conficker Working Group, said. We have not found the trick to take control back from the malware in any way.
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Researchers speculate that the computer could be generating vast amounts of spam. There is also another possibility that concerns them: That the program was not designed by a criminal gang, but instead by an intelligence agency or the military of some country to monitor or disable an enemys computers. NYT NEWS SERVICE
Researchers speculate that the computer could be generating vast amounts of spam. There is also another possibility that concerns them: That the program was not designed by a criminal gang, but instead by an intelligence agency or the military of some country to monitor or disable an enemys computers. NYT NEWS SERVICE
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