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Conficker Virus and the lessons it teaches
Windows XP and Windows Vista
Originally published on January 23, 2009

"So you think that you have the latest security software to keep your pc or Mac safe? Well think again. The Conficker virus has opened a new can of worms for security experts , as low security networks, memory sticks, and PCs without current security updates are in grave danger of being severely damaged by the Conflicker virus also known to be Downadup or Kido and was first discovered in October 2008.

Portable storage drives such as USB sticks infected with the virus trick users into installing the worm. According to security experts, a ‘social engineering trick’, which exploits the way humans think and act is said to be the biggest challenge that this virus puts before us. Even though the bogus option is marked as being in the category ‘Install or run program’, many users will see the familiar ‘Open folder to view files’ wording and icon that they click on it without thinking...."

The above article is typical of the many that you can find on the Web or in some Windows newsletters today. So the latest virus/worm threat is now banging the Internet with full force. Windows newsletters, computer magazines and their Web sites, blogs, and tech sites are abuzz with alarming stories about this "new" threat. Some say 2 million PCs are infected, some say 6 million, others say 9 million. Hmmm, no one knows.

What we know is that this incredibly irresponsible type of fear-mongering is spreading across the Web at the speed of light. It's not a hoax, it's real. But what these articles don't tell is revealing. They don't tell you upfront what your risk factor is. Some don't even tell you the whole truth. And some make you read the entire article and put the details - that stuff that matters to you as a home user, in very last paragraph. It's reprehensible that legitimate and trusted sites like PC World and others have sunk to the level of using sensationalistic headlines  in order to increase traffic to their sites. The more traffic the more people they can expose to an endless barrage of ads - flashing, redirecting, floating, spinning, all designed to generate more income while the site itself shows its disregard for telling the whole truth. The way this latest virus scare has been handled is just another example of how out of control sensationalistic publishing on the Web has gotten. Take a look, you can see it is running amok again. It's so bad this time that even The National Enquirer and The Globe must be grimacing.

So here is the whole truth - sans sensationalism. Conficker affects servers and corporate networks (not personal computers) - and those computers which are connected to them.  So, unless you have taken your laptop to work, connected to their network, and your employer was irresponsible with updates and was infected, you are safe. The vast majority of infected PCs are in Russia, China and South America. So, unless you have taken your laptop to work, connected to their network, and your employer was irresponsible with updates and was infected, you are safe. But you wouldn't know this from the headlines screaming from the Web and from the subject lines of many Windows newsletters. It seems that these folks are more concerned with making money by generating a lot of traffic through fear-mongering than that there are about your safety or telling you the whole truth. Darn, no wonder we're broke. There's no money in truth anymore.

While it's true that anti-virus software (as of this writing) will not protect you from this virus (or worm as some call it), it's absolutely true that a Windows update issued way back in October 2008 will. If you read this newsletter and follow our advice, then you've installed your Windows updates faithfully and there's no reason you should be alarmed.

The irresponsibility of those who publish Windows newsletters, write blogs about Windows or Windows computing magazines and their associate Web sites is astonishing. One Windows newsletter that used the conflicker virus warning in its subject line, is the very same newsletter that a few months ago advised its readers to turn off automatic Windows updates. They did their readers no service by offering them such bad advice in the first place, however it sure gave them the opportunity to write a convoluted, self-serving, droning article about the dangers of the Conflicker virus this week and headline their newsletter with it. Was it for their readers they did this or to fear-monger their way into more subscribers - and more money? We hope that you can see through such manipulative and irresponsible publications.

About the only thing we can add to the current frenzy over the Conficker virus is to let this latest pandemic serve as a reminder to you to keep your Windows Updates current. Hmmm...we've told you that every single week for 275 weeks now.  Maybe this is a good reminder to you why we keep emphasizing that you do that and take it seriously.

For those of you who haven't kept up with your Windows updates, please do it right now. Visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and make sure you have all the latest patches and fixes for your version of Windows. Turn on automatic updates right now, it's in Control Panel on both XP and Vista. Do it now while you're thinking about it. Don't listen to those who advise you not to use automatic updates.

Also see Microsoft's article about the patch they released in October 2008 that prevents Conflicker from attacking your Windows PC.

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