Conficker Internet Worm Shows Little Sign Of Trouble

NEW YORK (AP) – The Conficker Internet worm was supposed to get more aggressive today, but so far there’s been little sign of trouble.

The bug was programmed to “step up” malicious activities on April 1. That means the estimated 3 million to 12 million infected computers were told to increase their attempts to “phone home” for commands. But that seemed to be the only sign of life from the bug.

Some experts say anti-virus efforts and other vigilant moves may have been largely successful in defusing the problem.

But another says: not so fast. She says the powers behind the virus may realize people are on high alert right now. That may encourage them to wait before sending out more Conficker commands.

On the Net:

List of Conficker removal programs:

Microsoft page on Conficker: http://tinyurl.com/bzkwy2

Homeland Security’s announcement of its detection tool: http://tinyurl.com/c3petb

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)