April Fools! Meet the Conficker Virus!

[BlackLili]

April Fools! Meet the Conficker Virus! (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1609937/april_fools_meet_the_conficker_virus.html?cat=2)

An cursory overview of the Conficker virus, its supposed "phase 2" liftoff on April Fool's Day, and the hope on the horizon.


In this new technological age, many people are aware of the damage a virus can cause on a computer. ...But not as many stop to think about what a large-scale attack could do to our daily lives. At best, it could provide a minor interruption or irritation... At worst, we could be dependent on those websites that are being attacked...

...The Conficker Virus, which, since October 2008, has now infected over 10 million Windows PCs worldwide, has the potential to launch one of those large-scale attacks, and make life not only annoying but very costly come April Fool's Day.






/end shill

[CameraGirl]

Haha, I feel bad for all my younger peers. They have to register for classes, that day. I register later today. Mwa haha.

[BlackLili]

Haha, I feel bad for all my younger peers. They have to register for classes, that day. I register later today. Mwa haha.
Most universities have pretty up to date IT departments these days. I would hope their servers are pretty well secured by now. I wrote this more for guys like my Dad, a small business owner with a website, who wouldn't have heard about it otherwise.

But still...I'll join you in a Mwahahaha...:devil:

[Phoenix Blue]

I'm going to predict that whoever wrote this bug has heard the media hype and will move the activation date to April 6 ... a Monday. Just as everyone's powering up their PCs at the office, BLAMMO.

[BlackLili]

I'm going to predict that whoever wrote this bug has heard the media hype and will move the activation date to April 6 ... a Monday. Just as everyone's powering up their PCs at the office, BLAMMO.
I like how you think, PB. :thumbsup:

[CameraGirl]

Most universities have pretty up to date IT departments these days. I would hope their servers are pretty well secured by now. I wrote this more for guys like my Dad, a small business owner with a website, who wouldn't have heard about it otherwise.

But still...I'll join you in a Mwahahaha...:devil:


*laughs buttocks off*

They have so many problems with viruses, on this campus, it's not even funny. They even had one infect the whole effin' dorm 'net line, somehow. Yeah, shows you how much they care about protecting us. And they expect us to use their labs. Phlease!

[Kraheera]

*laughs buttocks off*

They have so many problems with viruses, on this campus, it's not even funny. They even had one infect the whole effin' dorm 'net line, somehow. Yeah, shows you how much they care about protecting us. And they expect us to use their labs. Phlease!


Short of blocking you from accessing anything outside the domain, there is no surefire way to keep viruses from finding their way in.

Even if they DID block outside domains, someone could still introduce a virus via memory stick or cd.

That is what happened to the Air Force recently. Someone got a memory stick made in china that had a virus built into its firmware, put it into the system, and an entire MAJCOM went down in under 6 hours. Gods that sucked. :(

[BlackLili]

Short of blocking you from accessing anything outside the domain, there is no surefire way to keep viruses from finding their way in.

Even if they DID block outside domains, someone could still introduce a virus via memory stick or cd.

That is what happened to the Air Force recently. Someone got a memory stick made in china that had a virus built into its firmware, put it into the system, and an entire MAJCOM went down in under 6 hours. Gods that sucked. :(
Oh ick. Even thinking about being the NOC primary on call that day makes my stomach hurt.

[Phoenix Blue]

That is what happened to the Air Force recently. Someone got a memory stick made in china that had a virus built into its firmware, put it into the system, and an entire MAJCOM went down in under 6 hours. Gods that sucked.
Heh, nice. Don't suppose you're allowed to say which one? ;)

What gets me about that particular case was that it happened sometime around November, but the worm that infected the DOD's networks was already five months old, and almost every antivirus software maker out there had code to protect against it. That begs the question of why it wasn't stopped, and why -- as I suspect -- people were transferring material from unclassified to classified computer networks using memory sticks instead of burning (and then classifying) CDs.

Incidentally, this is why I laugh every time I hear the Air Force talk about "defending cyberspace." I'll take them more seriously when (a) I don't hear about crap like this on a regular basis, and (b) the Air Force (and Department of Defense) go beyond "no one can use memory sticks period" to a solution that actually makes sense.

[Kraheera]

Heh, nice. Don't suppose you're allowed to say which one? ;)

What gets me about that particular case was that it happened sometime around November, but the worm that infected the DOD's networks was already five months old, and almost every antivirus software maker out there had code to protect against it. That begs the question of why it wasn't stopped, and why -- as I suspect -- people were transferring material from unclassified to classified computer networks using memory sticks instead of burning (and then classifying) CDs.

Incidentally, this is why I laugh every time I hear the Air Force talk about "defending cyberspace." I'll take them more seriously when (a) I don't hear about crap like this on a regular basis, and (b) the Air Force (and Department of Defense) go beyond "no one can use memory sticks period" to a solution that actually makes sense.


THANK YOU. The thing was, the guy that got the memory stick was disobeying standard procedure to begin with. He was a disgruntled employee, essentially, and still had access to SIPR. So he took an UNCLASSED memory stick, and stuck it into a CLASSED system... And voila!

So now, instead of putting in systems that would work, say... locking ports down so that anytime you put in something for the USB, Norton scans it autmatically, they just said "No Rewritable CD's, no External Hard Drives, no Thumb Drives, no Flash Drives... etc..."

Hell, you can't even hook up a camera that took pictures of equipment damage anymore.

[BlackLili]

Sounds like another typical reaction to me...


Heh. My article online garnered 970+ hits just since yesterday. No wonder so much of the media is focused on sensationalism. I (and most other reports at this point,) even bring up that the virus probably won't launch today, and people still freak. :thumbsup:

[Xentor]

April Fools! Meet the Conficker Virus! (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1609937/april_fools_meet_the_conficker_virus.html?cat=2)

An cursory overview of the Conficker virus, its supposed "phase 2" liftoff on April Fool's Day, and the hope on the horizon.


I hope it's an April Fool's joke. I prepared for a real infection. Either way, my computers won't be touched.

[BlackLili]

I hope it's an April Fool's joke. I prepared for a real infection. Either way, my computers won't be touched.
Good plan my friend. I shored up defenses on my laptop and DH's desktop yesterday night, just in case. No sense being silly about things, regardless of the phase 2 date.