Bits from Bill

Technology thoughts leaking from the brain of "Bill Pytlovany"

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Real Conficker Danger is on March 31st

Yesterday, I wrote about the Conficker worm and how it was expected to launch a new attack on April 1st.  I showed you the reverse engineered code which included a specific date stamp of April 1st, 2009.


What I forgot, and what everyone else missed is the real danger begins on March 31st. I woke up this morning remembering that sometime in the world, it’s already tomorrow.


Many years ago I distributed my free WinPatrol program as something called Birthdayware.  On  my birthday each year a message would pop up inviting folks to thank me by wishing me a happy birthday.


Old WinPatrol Birthdayware message
Birthdayware Easter Egg


To my surprise, the day before my birthday Emails started to flood my inbox. At first I thought a lot of people had their PC clocks screwed up. Then I looked at the Emails and saw they came from Philippines, Australia, Japan and other countries across the international date line.


It will be March 31st in most parts of the world when it turns April 1st across the Pacific. Most reports have indicated a majority of machines currently infected with Conficker are in China. 


Forget April Fools Day and make sure you take steps to protect yourself before March 31st. Somewhere in the world it will be April 1st for nearly 48 hours.



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2 Comments:

Blogger nightsmusic said...

Long time Plus user here. I can't tell you how many I've recommended Scotty to :)

I'm curious. Is there any way to find if you have Conflicker prior to March 31st and get rid of it?

11:21 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Symantec has a scanner for W32.Downadup or Confiker:
http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2009-011316-0247-99

2:28 PM  

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