Goodbye flu virus, hello computer virus!

Here we go again in the fight against another malicious computer virus

Just when I thought I had made it through the winter without catching anything serious, along comes a new threat, and this time a shot in the arm won’t prevent it. Now there’s a major battle going on between computer security groups around the world and the brazen author of a malicious software program called Conficker. This program began spreading late last year and quickly infected millions of computers with software code that is intended to control the infected machines and lash them together into a powerful computer known as a “botnet”.

Now the author of the program continually updates his software and continues his cat-and-mouse game against international computer security companies by planting the latest versions.

Apply for a No Fax Cash Advance now and buy yourself the latest version of the best anti-virus program you can get for your computer. This guy is no monkey and his virus is no joke. You will lose everything in the blink of a micro-second or you will end up mailing viruses to all your friends, family and contacts. They will love you for your thoughtfulness.

This is serious

The spread of the malicious software is on a scale that matches the worst of past viruses and worms. It is horrific. Microsoft has already announced a $250,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the Conficker author. Botnets are used to send the vast majority of e-mail spam messages. Then the spam is used to transmit shady commercial promotions including schemes that frequently involve directing unwary users to Web sites that can plant malicious software, or malware, on computers.

One of the largest botnets tracked last year consisted of 1.5 million infected computers that were being used to automate the breaking of “captchas,” the squiggly letter tests that are used to require applicants for Web services to prove “they are human”.

The inability of the world’s best computer security technologists to gain the upper hand against anonymous but determined cybercriminals is viewed as evidence of a fundamental security weakness in the global network. There is speculation that a computer virus attack is planned for April 1st.

Who is he and what does he want?

I can understand someone who writes some unnecessary software that is completely harmless and sends it around the web as a sort of innocent joke. But I cannot for the life of me, understand anything as malicious as this. What does this guy want? How does he benefit?

Researchers have not been able to determine the location of the author, or authors, or whether the program is being maintained by one person or a group of hackers. The Conficker program is built so that after it takes up residence on infected computers, it can be programmed remotely by software to serve as a vast system for distributing spam or other malware. You get the virus and you become his distribution agent.

Whoever this guy or group is, they demonstrate that their skills are at the leading edge of computer technology. This is not a bunch of students fooling around with their college assignment.

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