Posted on 03/31/2009 4:59:22 PM PDT by papasmurf
The conficker worm, aka:Downup, Downadup and Kido, is scheduled to become active at 00:01:00 AM on 04/01/09.
It's a complete unknown and has many experts worried. If you aren't sure about being protected on your Windows machine, please download the FREE application from Microsoft called Windows SteadyState , and install it.
It only takes a few minutes, it's very easy and simple, and it will protect your hard drive. I use it on my XP Box and my Wife's Vista laptop, and I know it works.
Download it, click to install, open it, and select "User Restrictions", and (if you do nothing else), select "Protect the Hard Disk".
After that, anything and everything that is installed will be deleted after a reboot. it's just that simple.
Read the help and "How To" that pops up after installation to find out more.
As much fun as Shadow Ace's threads are, it would be a shame to have 100 or so FReepers needing help in recovering their hard drives tomorrow.
So, remember, No disk glove, no data love!
This is for XP and after. Anything for 98 & ME?
I went to one of the links and got the following good news:
If you are reading this page, your computer is probably not infected with Conficker as the worm blocks access to most security web sites. If you have a computer that is infected, you will need to use an uninfected computer to download a specialized Conficker removal tool from. The tool is available here.
I don’t have any other than to say that my point in this thread is that Steady State is only one component of a security strategy. Don’t depend on this (free) product to guarantee protection from and recovery from any and all threats. It certainly isn’t marketed that way by Microsoft.
This idea of rolling back to a prior state by utilizing an external journaling feature is fine. Similar things have been available in other operating systems for years. But no professional would rely on this approach alone. This is kind of a last resort — after the threat gets past actual defenses like AV and firewall (which this is not). And if that cache file is trashed or the disk goes, forget it. You’re then left with nothing if you don’t have an external backup.
BLOG:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=2754
March 3rd, 2009
“Conficker worm to DDoS legitimate sites in March”
Posted by Dancho Danchev @ 12:40 pm
Categories: Anti Virus, Botnets, Browsers, Hackers, Malware......
Tags: Security, Internet Worm, Remote Code Execution, MS08-067, Conficker......
SNIPPET: “The reverse engineering of the domain registration algorithm not only made it possible to anticipate the upcoming command and control locations, but also, allowed security companies to pre-register them and lock them under the Conficker Cabal alliance with members such as Microsoft and the ICANN. Moreover, perhaps the most pragmatic mitigation solution implemented on a large scale so far, has been OpenDNS updated Stats System which automatically stops resolving Confickers latest domains, a feature which they introduced last month.
For the time being, the Conficker botnet remains in a stay tuned mode with the real malicious payload to be delivered at any particular moment. A patch has been available since October, 2008.”
ok........I just clicked these 3 links from post #2 and got onto the pages quite normally, so I guess I don’t have it as of now.....right? And I shall assume I’m ok if I can do so for the next day or two?
Home users can apply a simple test for the presence of a Conficker/Downadup infection on their home computers. The presence of a Conficker/Downadup infection may be detected if a user is unable to surf to their security solution website or if they are unable to connect to the websites, by downloading detection/removal tools available free from those sites:
http://www.symantec.com/norton/theme.jsp?themeid=conficker_worm&inid=us_ghp_link_conficker_worm
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/worms/conficker.mspx
http://www.mcafee.com
thank you.
well, it’s midnite here now, LOL, so if I got it I got it.....I’m nervous because I trade stocks actively.....hopefully even tomorrow. I dread the thought of a reformat! Thanks much.
This has turned out to be no big deal. No problems to rep@@@@@~~~~
Username: Conficker
Password: ********
https://www.iamsoscrewed.com
Avira says that if you have their AV and it is running, you should be okay.
All my important stuff is on flash drives. If my harddrive goes I am fine and dandy, I will leave my flash drives out of the machine for a day or two, I will put fresh flash drives in and save any new stuff, at the most I will lose a day or so of stuff, no big deal here. I doubt if it amounts to anything big anyway, this is just another crisis to keep people stirred up.
You’re welcome. Have fun, make money. :O)
Oh, I forgot to mention what I saw.
You’re welcome.
I don’t keep anything other than installed programs on my PC, except recently downloaded stuff I put on the desktop (to remind me to file it away), I store everything on two 1 TB, mirrored usb drives.
The PC I use mostly is a tri-boot (XP, Vista, Linux) machine, and I “image” it, and burn it to a dvd.
Flash drive are a good way to safely store data, if you do take them out or “stop” them when not using them.
so far so good....pre market open now, and everything I need from ameritrade loaded as usual, so I’m good to go....tks again
Things are looking good here - any word on how overseas “pirated” computers are doing?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.