Conficker

Conficker
Technical name
TypeWorm
Technical details
PlatformWindows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003 Server (SP2), Windows Vista, Windows 2008 Server[1]

Conficker, also known as Downup, Downadup and Kido, is a computer worm targeting the Microsoft Windows operating system that was first detected in November 2008.[2] It uses flaws in Windows OS software (MS08-067 / CVE-2008-4250)[3][4] and dictionary attacks on administrator passwords to propagate while forming a botnet, and has been unusually difficult to counter because of its combined use of many advanced malware techniques.[5][6] The Conficker worm infected millions of computers including government, business and home computers in over 190 countries, making it the largest known computer worm infection since the 2003 SQL Slammer worm.[7]

Despite its wide propagation, the worm did not do much damage, perhaps because its authors – believed to have been Ukrainian citizens – did not dare use it because of the attention it drew.[citation needed] Four men were arrested, and one pled guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison.

  1. ^ "Virus alert about the Win32/Conficker worm". Microsoft.
  2. ^ Protect yourself from the Conficker computer worm, Microsoft, 9 April 2009, archived from the original on 27 June 2009, retrieved 28 April 2009
  3. ^ BetaFred (8 June 2023). "Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-067 – Critical". learn.microsoft.com. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  4. ^ "CVE – CVE-2008-4250". cve.mitre.org. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  5. ^ Markoff, John (26 August 2009). "Defying Experts, Rogue Computer Code Still Lurks". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  6. ^ Bowden, Mark (June 2010), The Enemy Within, The Atlantic, archived from the original on 28 February 2012, retrieved 15 May 2010
  7. ^ Markoff, John (22 January 2009). "Worm Infects Millions of Computers Worldwide". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2009.