06 Apr 09 Is Conficker Really Worth Your PC’s Concern?

So the big question since April 1st has been the speculation regarding why the Conficker worm never really launched the way media hype suggested it would. As you probably have no doubt heard by now, Conficker is one of the most brilliant malware programs ever conceived. The Conficker worm exploited a security vulnerability found in Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and practically every other Windows operating system. Although the security issue has been patched by Microsoft, Conficker has still infected an estimated 15 million PC’s, the highest amount since way back in 2003 when the SQL Slammer hit.

But the weird thing about Conficker, is that though the worm went live on April 1st reportedly, nothing happened. Sort of like the Y2K hype that the world was going to end, when in actuality nothing happened at all really. Which is where the major question comes in, was this media hype, or is Conficker still a legitimate risk?

Because I would say Conficker might be something to be at least mildly concerned about.

Though the worm hasn’t done anything largely negative that’s been reported, Conficker is still infecting an obnoxiously high amount of machines, and the worm is still active, awaiting instructions on which actions to take next. And that’s the sort of scary bit, Conficker has the potential to create massive security issues, such as stealing your personal information, or completely taking control of your machine, or just downloading fake advertisements for anti-virus software to con you into spending money on false products.

But all in all, considering the hype about Conficker, I sincerely doubt that there was any attempt to actually do anything with the worm. Conficker just has that media sensation feel, where in the end we all feel stupid for believing the hype, considering nothing close to the massive horror depicted ever comes to fruition.

That and the fact that the date Conficker went ‘live’ was April 1st, or what is widely known as April Fool’s Day.

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Tags: Actuality, Anti Virus Software, April 1st, Fruition, Legitimate Risk, Media Hype, Media Sensation, No Doubt, Security Issue, Security Issues, Security Vulnerability, Speculation, Spending Money, Sql Slammer, Weird Thing, Windows 2000, Windows 2000 Xp, Windows Operating System, Worm, Y2k Hype

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06 Apr 09 Is Conficker Really Worth Your PC’s Concern?

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