Sorry if this old news....
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/ptech/01/16/virus.downadup/index.html
A new sleeper virus that could allow hackers to steal financial and personal information has now spread to more than eight million computers in what industry analysts say is one of the most serious infections they have ever seen.
Experts say a single infected laptop could expose an entire network to the worm.
The Downadup or Conficker worm exploits a bug in Microsoft Windows to infect mainly corporate networks, where -- although it has yet to cause any harm -- it potentially exposes infected PCs to hijack.
How does it spread?
The worm does not spread over email or the Web. However if an infected laptop is connected to your corporate network, it will immediately scan the network looking for machines to infect. These will be machines that have not installed a patch from Microsoft known as MS08-067. The worm will also scan company networks trying to guess your password, trying hundreds and hundreds of common words. If it gets in, even if you are not at your machine, it will infect and begin spreading to other servers. A third method of spreading is via USB data sticks.
http://www.ditii.com/2008/11/27/microsoft-warns-of-win32confickera-malware-exploiting-vulnerability/
Microsoft is warning users of a rise in attacks on a vulnerability in Windows that could trigger a worm infestation on networks, and the company is encouraging companies to apply an emergency patch released in October. Microsoft says it has reports from users on a worm called Win32/Conficker.A, which infects other computers across a network by exploiting a vulnerability in the Windows Server service (SVCHOST.exe).
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/ptech/01/16/virus.downadup/index.html
A new sleeper virus that could allow hackers to steal financial and personal information has now spread to more than eight million computers in what industry analysts say is one of the most serious infections they have ever seen.
Experts say a single infected laptop could expose an entire network to the worm.
The Downadup or Conficker worm exploits a bug in Microsoft Windows to infect mainly corporate networks, where -- although it has yet to cause any harm -- it potentially exposes infected PCs to hijack.
How does it spread?
The worm does not spread over email or the Web. However if an infected laptop is connected to your corporate network, it will immediately scan the network looking for machines to infect. These will be machines that have not installed a patch from Microsoft known as MS08-067. The worm will also scan company networks trying to guess your password, trying hundreds and hundreds of common words. If it gets in, even if you are not at your machine, it will infect and begin spreading to other servers. A third method of spreading is via USB data sticks.
http://www.ditii.com/2008/11/27/microsoft-warns-of-win32confickera-malware-exploiting-vulnerability/
Microsoft is warning users of a rise in attacks on a vulnerability in Windows that could trigger a worm infestation on networks, and the company is encouraging companies to apply an emergency patch released in October. Microsoft says it has reports from users on a worm called Win32/Conficker.A, which infects other computers across a network by exploiting a vulnerability in the Windows Server service (SVCHOST.exe).