Computer Worm To Activate April 1st

Government Computer News: US-CERT warns of another variant of Conficker worm 4/10/09
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CONFICKER WAKES UP, UPDATES VIA P2P, DROPS PAYLOAD 4/9/09
The Conficker worm is finally doing something--updating via peer-to-peer between infected computers and dropping a mystery payload on infected computers, Trend Micro said on Wednesday.
FULL STORY: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/09/conficker.activated/index.html
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April Fools' computer worm surfaces
FULL STORY: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/01/tech.viruses/index.html
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snopes.com: ConfickerPosted using ShareThis
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How will the April Fools' computer worm affect you? Questions & Answers
FULL Story: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/31/april.fools.computer.virus/index.html
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NO JOKE IN APRIL FOOL'S DAY COMPUTER WORM
FULL STORY: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/24/conficker.computer.worm/index.html

A computer-science detective story is playing out on the Internet as security experts try to hunt down a worm called Conficker C and prevent it from damaging millions of computers on April Fool's Day.

The malicious program already is thought to have infected between 5 million and 10 million computers.

Those infections haven't spawned many symptoms, but on April 1 a master computer is scheduled to gain control of these zombie machines, said Don DeBolt, director of threat research for CA, a New York-based IT and software company.

DeBolt said Conficker C imbeds itself deep in the computer where it is difficult to track. The program, for instance, stops Windows from conducting automatic updates that could prevent the malware from causing damage.

One quick way to see if your computer has been infected is to see if you have gotten automatic updates from Windows in March. If so, your computer likely is fine, DeBolt said.

Users who haven't gotten the latest Windows updates should go to http://safety.live.com/ if they fear they're infected, the company's statement says.

DeBolt said people who use other antivirus software should check to make sure they've received the latest updates, which also could have been disabled by Conficker C.

FULL STORY: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/24/conficker.computer.worm/index.html
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Is the Conficker worm an April Fool's joke?