Conficker: Ticking Time Bomb on Your PC?

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If you watched “60 Minutes” last night, or if you pay attention to online security sites, then you are aware of the latest “super virus” known as Conficker. It also goes by the names Downadup or Kido and has infected at least 10 million systems, and maybe up to 350 million, worldwide.

The scary thing about Conficker is that it is currently laying dormant on affected systems. In effect, it is awaiting further instructions from its creator. These further instructions could be to try and steal personal and financial information, or blast out spam causing further infections and network outages.

The virus is set to check with its creator on April 1st for further instructions, so now is a good time to make sure your system(s) aren’t infected. What steps should you take?

1. Make sure you have up-to-date antivirus software installed and running. Symantec, Kaspersky and others are reportedly catching Conficker infections right now.
2. Make sure you have the latest updates for Microsoft Windows downloaded and installed. Do this by visiting http://www.windowsupdate.com/. Microsoft has released a patch that deals with Conficker.
3. Run a virus scan. Better safe than sorry, right?
4. Don't visit unknown sites or suspicious links, even if sent to you by a friend.
5. Check with our friends at 'threatpost.com' for additional information and news.

By following these simple steps you can potentially save yourself a lot of pain and heart ache. Certainly, feel free to contact our experts here at Wasatch Software if you have any questions or need assistance about any IT security issues. Thanks and have a great day!

Computer (In)Security

Yesterday, the owner of another business in our building rushed into our office and reminded me just how important computer security is. His IBM ThinkPad had been virtually paralyzed by a malicious trojan. He stated that he had been surfing the Internet the night before when something popped up and said he had a virus. This pop-up instructed him that he must download something to fix it right away. Naturally, he obeyed as he certainly didn’t want his system to be infected.

Unfortunately, the pop-up was simply an Internet ad meant to scare people into downloading a malicious program. This particular ad led to a download, and the software downloaded was cleverly disguised as antivirus software, even though it was actually the virus that was paralyzing his system. Once on his system, the program told him the only way to fix the issue was to pay a license fee. This is typical of the latest generation of malware (known as crimeware) which is designed to make the creator money by either stealing information or tricking you. Thankfully, our fellow tenant came to us before paying the license fee. We were able to remove the virus and get his system running smoothly again without any loss of data.

What can you do to prevent a situation like this and maintain your computer security?

First and foremost, get good antivirus software. We use Kaspersky Total Space Security on our network here at Wasatch Software. It’s light on system resources, yet effective. Of course, there are a number of other good solutions from companies like Symantec or Trend Micro.

Next, be a skeptic. No antivirus program is perfect, and certainly not user-proof. Therefore you must use good judgment. If you aren’t sure if you should do something, contact an I.T. professional or someone you know who is computer savvy.

Last but not least, backup your data. If your system does get infected beyond repair, at least you can get things back to normal in a reasonable period of time. Backup Exec System Recovery is a great tool for this. If you’re using Windows XP or Windows Vista, be sure to create regular restore points so you can ‘turn back time’ on your system settings.

Have you experienced any similar situations? How did you resolve them?

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