Even though April 1 has passed and Conficker has done almost nothing, that doesn’t mean that it’s harmless! See if you have Conficker by using this handy Conficker Eye Chart. If you can load all the pictures, you don’t have Conficker. How does it work? Conficker blocks security related websites, so if the security images are blocked, Conficker is blocking them. If you have Conficker, follow our instructions on how to remove it.
Tomorrow is Conficker doomsday, so you should have a decent antivirus program and the latest Windows patches. If you don’t we have a few tips for you.
What is Conficker?
Conficker first bubbled up in late 2008 and began making headlines in January as known infections topped 9 million computers. The worm has grown incredibly complicated and powerful, but though no one is quite sure exactly what it will do when D-Day arrives. What’s known is that on April 1, all infected computers will come under the control of a master machine located somewhere across the web, at which point anything’s possible. Will the zombie machines steal personal information, wipe data, or simply add more traditional malware pop-ups? No one knows.
[via Yahoo!]
Are you infected?
Conficker runs only on Windows PCs. To test if you are infected, try Microsoft’s web-based scanner. If everything comes up clean, rest assured.
What are the symptoms?
Conficker currently prevents you from updating your antivirus software, getting Windows updates, or accessing websites that provide security information. But tomorrow, the masterminds behind the worm will do something that could cause a lot of havoc.
If you are infected…
Remove it! Download Symantec’s Conficker remover, read the instructions, and run the tool.
Other things to do…
Even if you don’t have the worm, you should still get the latest patches from Windows Update and have a good security program on your computer. And as always, make sure to back up your files.
Want a easy way to avoid dangerous spyware or viruses? Use Yahoo Search. Why? Malicious sites are marked automatically in Yahoo! search results. The technology is called SearchScan, and uses data from SiteAdvisor’s excellent database. Mousing over a threat rating gives you more details about the site. This is a welcome feature to Yahoo! search results, as the SiteAdvisor plug-in only supports IE and Firefox.
What do you do when you know you’ve got a virus? We show you how to clean up the mess on this How To.
Google Pack
First, head over to pack.google.com and download the pack. We don’t care if you check or uncheck the other stuff; just make sure Norton Security Scan and Spyware Doctor are checked. Once the programs install, run them and see what turns up. Norton can remove viruses, and Spyware Doctor can remove spyware. But you may have a nasty infection that those programs can’t detect. So…
Norton Antivirus
Spyware Doctor
Download and install the full trial versions of Norton AntiVirus 2009 and Spyware Doctor 6.0. These are our top antivirus and antispyware products, so give the full versions a try. If you like them, it’s worth paying the yearly subscriptions to keep them. For Mac users, you can try the free iAntiVirus or Norton AntiVirus for Mac.
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Process Explorer
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Autoruns
If want to get down and dirty, download the latest versions of Process Explorer and Autoruns. Process Explorer is like Windows Task Manager on steroids; it shows a hierarchy for all your processes and detailed explanations of each one. Plus, you can easily hit the Google button to search for even more information. Autoruns lists all the programs that launch at startup. If something seems suspicious, do some research. Then uncheck the checkbox next to the item to disable it. Note, though, that these are only diagnostic tools and that you should use an antivirus or antispyware program to clean up the problem.
VirusTotal
In the future, scan all your Internet downloads with VirusTotal. This service will scan any file you upload with over 30 antivirus programs. This is the best way to scan a single file, because the chance that every engine will miss a file is very small.
That’s it for our How To! Stay tuned for more detailed reviews on antivirus products.
