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When the Conficker computer “worm” was unleashed on the world in November 2008, cyber-security experts didn’t know what to make of it. It infiltrated millions of computers around the globe. It constantly checks in with its unknown creators. It uses an encryption code so sophisticated that only a very few people could have deployed it. For the first time ever, the cyber-security elites of the world have joined forces in a high-tech game of cops and robbers, trying to find Conficker’s creators and defeat them. The cops are failing. And now the worm lies there, waiting … The first surprising...

BOSTON (Reuters) - A malicious software program known as Conficker that many feared would wreak havoc on April 1 is slowly being activated, weeks after being dismissed as a false alarm, security experts said. Conficker, also known as Downadup or Kido, is quietly turning thousands of personal computers into servers of e-mail spam and installing spyware, they said. The worm started spreading late last year, infecting millions of computers and turning them into "slaves" that respond to commands sent from a remote server that effectively controls an army of computers known as a botnet. Its unidentified creators started using those...

A day after Microsoft posted a dozen patches for Windows and Office, the one pegged by security analysts as the most dangerous is being used in attacks, the federal cyber-agency said.

In a rare alert, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has urged Windows users to plug a potential worm hole in the Microsoft operating system. You can view the DHS Press Release here

This Worm Is Nasty, Brutish, And Sneaky As a data security specialist, Jeremy Pickett sees all kinds of digital tricks. So on Mar. 20, when he was tracing the origins of a computer worm that had been blocked the night before from entering a client's computer network, Pickett wasn't too surprised that it tried to connect with four sleazy Web sites, most of them, he believes, in Russia. Or that it then tried to load victims' PCs with as many as 30 new pieces of "malware," ranging from spam programs to those that automatically dial in to expensive phone-sex services....

I just tuned into Wolf Blitzer’s new show, The Situation Room. While Israel is in the process of a historic pullout from Gaza, CNN is reporting on… computer worms! Yes, you heard me right. Computer worms. This is quite honestly the saddest spectacle I’ve ever seen on TV.

update Major Internet search engines were crippled Monday morning by a variant of the MyDoom worm, rendering Google inaccessible to many users and slowing results from Yahoo. The attack also affected smaller engines, including Alta Vista, a Yahoo subsidiary, and Lycos. Google representatives confirmed that the MyDoom worm affected performance of the search engine, but, despite numerous e-mail complaints received by News.com, said the attack had a limited impact. "At no point was the Google Web site significantly impaired, and service for all users and networks is expected to be restored shortly," the company said in a statement. A Lycos...

Special to CNET News.com Computer security experts fear a new worm that began spreading rapidly across Australian e-mail networks on Sunday could be a rehearsal for a more concerted attack in coming weeks. The worm--dubbed Bagle-A--carries an expiration date, possibly indicating that more robust versions of the worm could be slated for release soon, said Daniel Zatz, security director for Computer Associates Australia. While Bagle-A is already successful--responsible for an 80 percent increase in queries to CA's help desk and in virus submissions to rival computer security company Sophos--the current version of the worm contains bugs, Zatz said. Comparing Bagle...