“The worm that’s supposedly infected almost nine million PCs running Windows, dubbed Cornficker or Downadup, could lead to a massive botnet, security researchers have said. The worm initially spread to systems unpatched against MS08-067, but has since ‘evolved and is now able to spread to patched computers through portable USB drives through brute-force password- guessing.'”Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Give your brain an electric shock, learn stuff faster @ Ars Technica
- Windows 7 Up Close and Personal @ HotHardware
- What are we Expecting from our Laptops in Today’s Notebook Space? @ Hardware Secrets
- Corsair jumps into SSD market with a splash @ HEXUS
- Dual Boot Windows 7 with XP/Vista in three easy steps @ TechSpot
The botnet is coming, the botnet is coming!
Our next virtual Chicken Little is Conficker, a voracious and evolving worm spreading thanks to unpatched Windows systems. Unfortunately for those responsible people who have patched their systems, it can still infect you via an infected USB drive and a little time to brute force your password. If you are infected, you may not notice as the little bugger is being polite, for the moment. Slashdot’s story covers the invetible outcome, at some point this worm is going to go active as a huge botnet. Be careful whose thumb drives you stick into your PC.