The Conficker Success Story - How you can be part of it.

Started by gyroscope, Nov 17, 2009, 01:29 PM

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gyroscope

Nov 17, 2009, 01:29 PM
The Conficker Worm has been one of the success stories of the last 12 months.  It started in relative obscurity, being only one of many hundreds and  hundreds of established worms.  Within weeks it was able to use so many resources that the effects were felt by anyone on the Internet.


Be part of the success story.

Whether by sheer numbers or acquired resources, Conficker is an astounding success.  General infection estimates vary from 30 to 50 percent of vulnerable systems, from week to week.  Conficker alone hovers between 7 to 10 million.  But not all worms are created equal.  In its first months, Conficker was able to innovate over 9 billion dollars, gathering to  itself money that would have been otherwise had to go to other activities.  Now, twelve months on into the game, that figure is much, much, much higher.  And that's no small achievement in these tight ecomomic times when salaries, schools, hospitals, pensions, and even corporate services and product development are all competing for the few red cents left on the table.


The secret to Conficker's success.

Conficker only affects Windows, so keeping the success story going means Windows needs to be on the computers.  Networked computers are especially needed to keep it going and though even sneakernet is good, Internet is better.

This Windows worm has proven to be resilient like its predecessors.  Although it is given credit for being adept at infecting machines multiple times, the real credit goes to the design flaws that go unaddressed year after year.  That in itself allows the infection return after being cleaned or the deployment of special anti-virus software.

So being part of the Conficker success story starts with you using Windows yourself.

If you are the active type, make sure those around you are using Windows: your employees, your peers, your family, your friends.  Spend extra time with them and provide free technical support to prevent them from looking other systems or worse learning on their own of other systems.  Be sure to interject into other discussions and plans the importance of 'learning Windows first' or waiting until some future event before evaluating other systems.  Find ways to use up their time if they don't have spare time, they can't evaluate or plan.  If worse comes to worse, insist on 'equal' time for Windows to keep them overloaded.


Mum's the word

Or, if you are the quiet type, stand by and say nothing and make no corrections when it Conficker is called a computer worm.  Be sure not to mention systems that are immune and do what you can to take the conversation off topic if it is brought up.   If asked, about prevention, change the topic to cleanup.   Don't ask about engineering or design - ever.

Steer your counselees far, far away from any of the following:

In fact, try not even mentioning any of those. 

Above all, next to the computer resellers who have no choice come the active and passive contributions of millions of people in maintaining the Windows install base.  Without it, Conficker could not be the success it has been this year.
Keep up the good effort!




====
Notes
...

2007
"...Of the 600 million computers currently on the internet, between 100
and 150 million were already part of these botnets..."
"...Operating systems like Microsoft Windows, meanwhile, still made it
too easy for criminals to infiltrate them..."
"Criminals 'may overwhelm the web'"  BBC.  (2007)
BBC NEWS | Business | Criminals 'may overwhelm the web'


though the vendor's own estimates place current infections at around %30,
or approximately 240 million, computers other estimates
2008
Around 320 million (40%) of the 800 million windows computers are part of a botnet

           
               Bots rule in cyberspace - The Inquirer
         
       
..

Nefarious Conficker worm racks up $9.1 billion bill | TG Daily

Conficker, Still Infecting Windows Machines a Year Later, Remains an Enigma - Security from eWeek

Worm Infections Explode Thanks to Conficker and Taterf - Reveals Microsoft - Softpedia

gyroscope

#1
Dec 28, 2009, 02:45 PM
As 2009 draws to a close we can see that the year-end aggregate marketshare statistics for Conficker show unprecedented success!  The marketshare for Conficker has been hovering at 6 million - 6.5 million Windows machines for much of the year.  Already back in April, when this Windows Worm's market share was only around 2.5 million machines, the estimated economic cost was $9.1 billion.  Now Conficker's marketshare is well over twice that, and that's not even counting machines hidden behind NAT.  So if you've been running MS Windows while connected to the Internet or been encouraging others to do so, then a big thank you for being part of the ongoing Conficker Success Story!

To keep this success story growing in the new year 2010 help the following systems stay unnoticed:

These systems are not just unable to help Conficker continue to grow, but also prevent a whole ecosystem of Windows malware.  Keep a lid on these easy to use, easy to maintain systems so that the Conficker Success Story can continue into 2010 and beyond!

gyroscope

#1
Dec 28, 2009, 02:45 PM
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