# anyone hear about this yet?



## X (Mar 26, 2009)

so, has anyone heard of the new "super virus" thats supposed to infect everything April 1st? its called Conficker C

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/128643/beware-conficker-worm-come-april-1/

here is a link to an analysis of the virus for all the tech guys here:
http://mtc.sri.com/Conficker/addendumC/ (i cannot even understand the stuff they are saying in there.)

so, what do you think? will it be some serious shitstorm of virus infections? or something that will blow over rather quickly? or is it not even worth getting scared over?


----------



## net-cat (Mar 26, 2009)

[thread=39563]Yes.[/thread]


----------



## ToeClaws (Mar 26, 2009)

Meh - there's _always_ going to be "the next scary virus" - though they change in what they do and how they work over time, the day will come and go.  Some folks will suffer from it, some won't.  All you can do is as much due-diligence as technically possible and hope for the  best.

Our director was asking us (the NOC) how well seated we were to deal with it 'cause the board of directors for the campus are concerned - we basically explained we took the precautions we could, but we really won't know how well seated we are until the day comes.  *shrugs* Stuff like that makes life in the IT world interesting.


----------



## SnowFox (Mar 26, 2009)

I didn't read the whole article, but I'm very impressed. That's one awesome virus, why can't the likes of microsoft & symantec improve and maintain their code like that?


----------



## Pi (Mar 26, 2009)

Dear unwashed masses:

Conficker.C's April 1 is *NOT* the end of the internet, in exactly the same way that Code Red was not the end of the Internet, Slammer was not the end of the internet, Blaster was not the end of the internet, Melissa was not the end of the internet, Michaelangelo was not the end of the PC, etc. Please stop being so fucking hyperbolic.


----------



## Kesteh (Mar 26, 2009)

This is a scare derived from a form of http://forums.furaffinity.net/showthread.php?t=35264

Also, April 1.
April 1.
April 1.

If you aren't a dumbass on the internet, then you shouldn't have to worry.


----------



## Stratelier (Mar 26, 2009)

Good times.


----------



## WolvesSoulZ (Mar 26, 2009)

IMO, nothing to worry about xD And afterall, if it infect comp, reformat and hop your fine


----------



## Runefox (Mar 26, 2009)

> half-witted fur


That just about sums it up, considering just a few posts down is another post about the Conficker worm.

That having been said, I don't particularly care what it does - It hasn't, and won't, infect me, and won't affect me, either. Whether it's some data mining thing, or they're going to all instantaneously blast the Pentagon off the Internets, I really don't care. At the very least, it's not going to be some hard drive wiper (if it IS, then the script kiddie who created it will very quickly get a visit from the Russian mob and those who back professionally-created viruses for activities such as identity theft, since that would ruin a lot of their income. It's happened before).

"Superviruses" don't exist. Those that do exist get taken out nicely by other interests. And besides, no matter what, it's nothing a partition wipe + format + reinstall of an OS can't cure, so it's definitely not the end of technology and computers as we know it. Software is exactly that - Software. It'll have a hell of a time trying to damage the hardware of a computer beyond scrambling the BIOS or something like that, which is also recoverable. Back in the day, there used to be bugs that would cause a hard drive to try and seek past its capacity, causing the heads to strain and break, but that sort of thing is nigh-impossible these days. And hell, even if it made your computer into an IED somehow, the parts off the shelf at your local computer shop aren't infected.

All the same, anyone infected with this thing more or less deserves whatever it is it does. Poor security and disregard for net safety is pretty much the only way you're going to get hit by this stuff, barring someone jumping on your WiFi and spreading it directly to your PC.


----------



## Stratelier (Mar 26, 2009)

Conficker-C is a high-grade worm that, once installed on a computer, (a) disables all security/antivirus software it knows of (which includes blocking you from just about any website that might offer anti-malware or removal tools), (b) opens P2P file-sharing ports on the computer, and (c) awaits further instructions (executable files) from HQ, which it can execute on the target computer no-questions-asked.  And that's not counting the replication across networked drives and computers.

Now the worm isn't interested in interfering with your normal user interaction as much as it is in turning your PC into just some extra processing power for a coordinated Internet-based attack.  It's not out to wipe your hard drive clean of sentimental files, it just wants your extra CPU cycles.

Interestingly, Conficker-C uses its own security protocols to make sure that any executable instructions it receives are actual, genuine things from its authors and not from some "other" hackers.

So it's nothing new, it is just particularly sophisticated of its type.


----------



## Eevee (Mar 27, 2009)

I hope it fucking nukes every machine it's on

but that wouldn't be profitable so it'll probably just be durp durp another botnet


----------



## â„¢-Daley Leungsangnam475-â„¢ (Mar 27, 2009)

I'm not worried one bit aBOT it


----------



## CodArk2 (Mar 27, 2009)

yeah, its been all over tech sites for like the last week, but im on a mac so no worries


----------



## Stratelier (Mar 27, 2009)

Eevee said:


> but that wouldn't be profitable so it'll probably just be durp durp another botnet


Botnets are casually compared with brain-eating zombies, both of which are one of the ultimate expressions of strength-in-numbers.

Even if it is the end of the Internet for a day, obviously it's not the end of the world.


----------



## Shino (Mar 27, 2009)

I have yet to see something malicious get through my overly-paraniod layers of security. Between my Antivirus package, multiple software firewalls, NAT/Router/hardware firewall, multiple proxy system, TPM, BitLocker, multiple backups (which I haven't needed... yet.) and my internet-savvy-ness.

Wow, I just re-read that. That's kinda sad. Oh, well. *opens Steam*

*Tangent ahead*

I still remeber when I was at college working at the IT helpdesk, when half the severs and routers began recieving DoS attacks. It stopped after about 30 seconds, and about two minutes later, one of my friends sticks his head in and asked "Did I break the network?" in his damned innocent grin...


----------



## Irreverent (Mar 27, 2009)

Pi said:


> Dear unwashed masses:
> 
> Conficker.C's April 1 is *NOT* the end of the internet, in exactly the same way that Code Red was not the end of the Internet, Slammer was not the end of the internet, Blaster was not the end of the internet, Melissa was not the end of the internet, Michaelangelo was not the end of the PC, etc. Please stop being so fucking hyperbolic.



This.

Most ISP's will be prepared with some form of heuristic filtering based on packet  signatures.  It will be a good test.

Having said that, its still going to be a PITA for internet support call centres that will take an increased volume of calls (and on a fee for call basis too) from the unwashed masses.  This may be the first virus written by an contact centre outsourcer.


----------

