Worm infecting MS Windows may fool on April 1

As April Fool’s Day draws closer, Windows XP and Windows 2000 users are being advised by security experts to brace themselves against the third variant of the deadly Conficker worm which may begin a new cycle of spreading spam, stealing data or carrying out online scams.

Conficker, a new breed of self-updating PC worms that has infiltrated nearly every Windows 2000 and XP machines, has largely affected users in countries like China, Brazil, Russia, and India which also have some of the highest numbers of pirated copies of Windows in the world. Almost 607,172 IPs (internet addresses) in India and overall 10 million IPs have been affected by Conficker, according to estimates made by researchers at SRI International.
 

HOW TO AVOID & PROTECT YOUR PC

* Immediately update your Windows XP and Vista with the latest security updates

* Update your virus programme and run them through your computer with the ‘Scan All’ files setting

* Turn off auto run options in Windows for CDs and USB drives

* Ensure that users and domain administrators' passwords are strong

Meanwhile, to prevent the spread of the worm, security experts have advised users to immediately update their Windows operating systems and also update their antivirus programmes. “Windows XP and older versions of Windows are most at risk from the worm. Users are advised to install Microsoft’s latest patch and, as ever, to update their security software,” said Ambarish Deshpande, regional director, IronPort Systems. The security firm acknowledges that there has been a huge increase in attacks from emerging economies especially India and Brazil.

Mikko Hypponen, F-Secure’s Chief Security Officer said the new variant is much more sophisticated in the way it plants itself on computers. "It may not trigger a reaction from installed security software as it simply terminates tools used to monitor and remove it from affected systems," he added. F-Secure, a leading IT security and solution provider, also claimed there has been an increase in number of viruses originating from India. “We have noted that viruses like Die_Hard, Joshi, Microbes, V-Sign and Wolleh first took off in India,” says Venu Palakriti, sales director of F-Secure.

The Indian security software market, which is already showing signs of a slowdown, is a worried lot. Estimates suggest the security software grew roughly 25 per cent in 2008 compared to 35.2 per cent in 2007, with the Indian security market standing at just Rs 1,500 crore for FY 2008. As a result Symantec’s latest spam report ranks India third, after US and Brazil as the top most spam producing countries. Symantec’s estimates that the Indian continent contributes 5 per cent of the total spam traffic.