Conficker

If there is a loophole in the system somewhere later it will undoubtedly be exploited. Conficker, Downup, Downadup, Kido – these are all the names of computer viruses that appeared on the Internet in 2008. system. These techniques included copying to shared folders and using the AutoRun utility for removable media.

Once a computer was infected, Conficker would disable Windows system security services and automatic backup settings, delete restore points, and make security-related websites inaccessible. Despite its wide distribution and the hassle of getting rid of it, the worm itself did not cause much damage.

What is the Conficker?

Conficker is a rapidly spreading worm that targets a vulnerability (MS08-067) in Windows operating systems.

An in November 2008. Since then, Conficker has infected millions of computers and set up the infrastructure for a botnet.

The worm is to contact the controlling computers and presumably perform other actions on April 1. Some experts have speculated that attackers would rent parts of the botnet to criminals who would use them for spam, identity theft, phishing exploits, and the like. malicious activities.

Like most malware today, Conficker is a mixed threat, combining the functionality of several different approaches. Once infects a computer, it disables many security features and automatic backup settings, deletes restore points, and opens connections to receive instructions from a remote computer. Once the first computer is configured, Conficker uses it to access the rest of the network.

Conficker can spread by several means, by copying itself to shared folders, for example, or by exploiting the autorun utility for removable media. There are three variations of Conficker. Conficker C, the most recent version, leverages peer-to-peer networking capabilities to improve delivery.

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.

It uses flaws in Windows OS software 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. 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 Welchia.

Conficker was first detected in November 2008. It spread so quickly that it was considered the biggest worm infection since the 2003 SQL Slammer. Researchers believe that in January 2009, it had reached over 9 million homes, businesses, and governments. computers in more than 200 countries.

The name Conficker is considered to be a combination of the words “configuration” and “ficker”. Another origin suggested by Microsoft analyst Joshua Phillips is that it came from trafficconverter.biz, as a rearrangement of the letters of the domain (even though the domain name does not contain the letter “k”). This site has been used by Conficker as a blind spot to download its updates.

There are five Conficker variants, designated A through E. Each variant is an improvement on the previous one and contains more defense mechanisms against detection.

The first iteration of the worm spread over the Internet by exploiting a vulnerability in the Windows network service. The second variant of the virus added the ability to spread through local area networks, removable storage, and network share. The following variations have improved the worm’s encryption capability and detection prevention.

Although Conficker’s methods are well known to researchers, its combined use of so many defense methods makes its total eradication very difficult. The constant updating of the worm also serves to keep it alive. Whenever a fix or a fix has been made, its authors remove the vulnerability against that fix.