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.

Protecting Yourself At Home

The best way to protect our computer when you have Wi-Fi is to make sure that you have an up-to-date antivirus program installed on your computer. Most anti-virus software will automatically scan your computer to check for any possible threats or viruses. By enabling a WEP or WPA (encryptions on your computer) you can help prevent any intruders from accessing your computer and installing a virus or worm on it. This is very important for wireless internet users as any half-way decent hacker can use your Wi-Fi connection to get into your computer.

When you look for a router for your wireless internet, make sure to get one that has a firewall installed on it. This will greatly reduce the chances that someone will be able to hack into your computer. If you find that your router does not have a firewall installed on it, there are firewall software programs that you can add to your existing router.

Disable the SSID link on your wireless internet. The SSID link is a network that the Wi-Fi uses that regularly broadcast over the air. If you disable the SSID, that means that others can not access your network. This means they won’t have access to your computer either.

Protecting Yourself At Public Wi-Fi Spots

If you have the proper software on your computer, you will be able to go places like local coffee shops, hotels, and airports which are hot spots for wireless internet. This means that you can log onto the computer from these places and share the network. Sharing the network means that you may have a greater chance of someone accessing your computer information or sending a virus into your computer. A good idea when using wireless internet at a public place is to never put any personal identification on your computer at that time. Don’t give your social security number at that time to anybody or order anything online with a credit card while using the public internet.