The Last Watchdog

on Internet security by Byron Acohido

Microsoft

The evolution of an extraordinary globe-spanning worm
March 25, 2009

14 Comments

Conficker timeline
2008 – 2009

CLICK HERE to see F-Secure’s comprehensive Conficker FAQ.

2008

Aug. 20: The Gimmiv Trojan, which exploited the vulnerability Conficker capitalises on, is first spotted running in a virtual machine on a server in South Korea. Experts speculate this was a a test run prior to it being released in the wild. (Source: BBC)

Sept. Chinese malware brokers are spotted  selling  a $37 tool kit that allows anyone to exploit this newly-discovered security hole in a component of …More

$250,000 reward for Conficker controllers’ scalps
February 16, 2009

1 Comment

worms_cropThat $250,000 bounty Microsoft has put up for the scalps of the controllers of the globe-spanning Conficker worm seems about right. Conficker, aka Downadup,  has now infected the German military, as well as networks of the UK and French Air Forces and England’s Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. After several weeks of informal collaborations, the world’s top virus hunters have formed an official posse to hunt …More

FAQ — The Ominous Downadup/Conficker worm
February 10, 2009

4 Comments

gatesxlarge1The creators/controllers of the unnerving Downadup/Conficker worm that continues to spread, mostly via unpatched Windows PCs inside corporate networks, have been very good about  holding their cards close, giving few hints of how they plan to use a botnet of several million infected PCs.  Here’s an FAQ I’ve assembled, derived from interviews with F-Secure’s Patrik Runald, Secureworks’ Don Jackson, Arbor Networks’ Jose Nazario, Sunbelt Software’…More

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