The first sightings of the Conficker malware at work have occurred. It is pushing fake anti-virus/spyware software that claims to have found malware on your machine (Spyware Protect 2009) and for a mere $49.95 one can download the software to clean the purported infection. Of course, the software does nothing but remove the annoying pop-ups and other tricks used to get you to pay, and the cyber thieves now have your money.
Conficker has also been observed downloading and installing a mass e-mailer that makes your machine part of another botnet that is linked with data theft.
Just how concerned should you be? If you keep up with the Microsoft updates and patches, as well as keeping your anti-virus protection up to date, you probably have nothing to worry about. Conficker depends on a security vulnerability in Windows that Microsoft patched last year. All the major anti-virus vendors have the means to detect and remove Conficker. If you wish to do a simple test, open your Internet Explorer click Tools | Windows Update which should bring you to the Microsoft update site. If you reach it, you are probably not infected. You can also try to reach the major A/V vendors web sites, www.trendmicro.com, www.symantec.com, and/or www.mcafee.com. Successfully reaching these sites will indicate that you are probably not infected. The actual infection rate in the US has been variously estimated at between 4 and 6%, not a very high rate, but that includes millions of computers.
If you would like some expert help to assess your systems and their vulnerability to malware, please give LAN Doctor, Inc. a call at 703.356.3070 or e-mail us.
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