Information Protection and Security

In its latest Security Intelligence Report, Microsoft documents the doubling of worms in enterprises during the first half of 2009.
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Remember the Conficker worm? It uses flaws (yes, it's still around) in Windows software to remotely take over computers and link them into a virtual computer that can be commanded remotely by its authors. In August, 2009, Conficker had more than five million computers under its control — government, business and home computers in more than 200 countries.  Compromises like this can be avoided by regular patching (updating software). You can protect yourself from malware like conficker which can ultimately lead to identity theft, financial loss, and/or cyber crime.  Make sure your machine is patched up to date.  It’s easy and takes no time if you do it automatically.  The same with Rutgers Antivirus Delivery Service…it’s free (for Rutgers faculty, staff and students), automatic and covers spyware, too. Do yourself a favor and consider maintenance a priority.  Stop. Think. Secure IT!

Conficker is a worm that caused a big stir a few months ago.  It compromises unpatched computers. 

Reinfected machines likely part of the 5.5 to 6 million-strong Conficker headcount.
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Updated An Ealing council employee infected the UK local authority's IT systems with the Conficker-D worm after he plugged an infected USB into a work computer, causing tens of thousands of pounds in damages in the process.

Conficker just won't go away. Despite the efforts of the security community and the presence of numerous tools for detection and removal, the worm is still trying to infect as many as 50,000 new Microsoft Windows PCs a day. The question is: why?
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Twitter:  Embraced by individuals and organizations who "tweet" about everything from the banal to breaking news, Twitter is a successful technology platform, however, it draws the attention of hackers who aim to leverage Twitter´s popularity for malicious intent;  Conficker Worm: while the real action of the conficker worm occurred a week later and didn´t appear to have much of an impact, much can be learned from this incident and the evolution of threats.

As Conficker shows no signs of going away, software giant makes worm tougher to spread via USB. It took a high-profile malware attack that can spread via USB drives to prompt Microsoft to disable the automatic AutoRun function for USB-type removable devices in Windows 7, XP, and Vista.
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Microsoft has announced that updates will be coming for Windows that will limit the display of the AutoRun task to removable optical media.
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Mainstream media hype leading up to the Conficker worm's April 1 software update may have distracted people from legitimate cyber threats, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's head of cyber security said Thursday.
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