Conficker worm infected machines may comprise one of the biggest networks of robot computers (botnets) in Internet history if security experts’ fears are proved correct. From midnight on 1 April, the Conficker program will start scanning thousands of websites for a new set of instructions telling it what to do next.
Conficker – also known among security experts as “Downadup” was first discovered in November last year, being sold as part of a kit by a Chinese hacker. Since then, two variants have been spotted in the wild as the virus has gone on to infect more than 10m PCs.
Microsoft has offered a bounty of $250,000 (£176,000) for the identity of Conficker’s creator, who currently remains unknown. Usual methods of unpacking the virus code to examine its workings have been thwarted because the authors have encrypted it, using algorithms that render it almost uncrackable.
For more aspects of this story see Conficker virus – deadly threat or April Fool’s joke