news news Malicious Conficker Internet worm

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Malicious Conficker Internet worm reaches 'go time,' but to no effect



2 hours, 10 minutes ago





By The Associated Press


NEW YORK - The malicious Conficker Internet worm is trying to reach its creators more aggressively today, but nothing noticeable has happened.

The worm's programming included a change in tactics on April 1, and infected computers were told to step up their attempts to "phone home" for commands. But chief research officer Mikko Hypponen at antivirus company F-Secure says that's the only sign of life from the bug.

The worm can take control of unsuspecting PCs running Microsoft's Windows operating system.

But its creators likely want to use their vast "botnet" to send spam or perform other cybercrimes, and not to bring down the Internet.

Security companies monitoring the worm have been largely successful at blocking infected machines from communicating with whoever programmed it.