Think you have a solid antivirus on your PC? Double-check, bro.

Lots of times, in fact they’re a conduit for attackers to take over your machine. They’ll take your credit card information, any personal information you’ve entered there and they’ve got your machine.
Symantec’s Vice President for Security Response Vincent Weafer • Describing the nefarious ways that fake antivirus software works. Weafer says that there were as many as 43 million attempted downloads of realistic-sounding antivirus software with names like “Antivirus 2010” and “SpywareGuard 2008.” But they’re really just vectors to take over you computer. Even worse, Weafer notes that there was an affiliate program for middlemen who wanted to earn as much as 55 cents for each PC they infected. The top affiliates were bringing in hundreds of thousands each month through early Conficker virus server TrafficConverter.biz. • source

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That’s what Symantec says. Symantec, the world’s largest security firm, says that the Conficker virus (also known as Downadup) is spreading in part because those spreading the virus have stacked the deck in search engines. Many search results will automatically infect you with the virus, Symantec says. That’s lame. :( source

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$250,000 reward offered by Microsoft to find the authors of the Conficker/Downadup worm
500,000 per day number of infections it’s caused recently, according to security firm Symantec source

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19 Oct 2009 01:52