NWA-PCUG Newsletter Article, February 2009
Protect from the new crop of Trojans - AUTORUN
and
Conficker Worm Alert! a-squared Free 4.0 removes the Worm

By Ira Wilsker, APCUG Director;
Columnist, The Examiner, Beaumont, TX; Radio & TV Show Host

Iwilsker@apcug.net
(click to email author)

Protect from the new crop of Trojans - AUTORUN

Here is a report from the US CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team, US Govt.) on how to keep the new crop of trojans from infecting computers.

http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-020A.html

I have attached the autorun.reg file created by CERT.

This might be a good tool to have in your arsenal.

NWA-PCUG Editor: The html file above explains in detail the construction of the autorun.reg file and getting it into the registry (NOTE: understanding or navigating the registry is NOT required. See the html file)

Conficker Worm Alert! a-squared Free 4.0 removes the Worm
From: Emsi Software Newsletter
Subject: Conficker Worm Alert! a-squared Free 4.0 removes the Worm
Date: Thursday, January 22, 2009, 7:29 PM

This Newsletter informs you about all Emsi Software news.

Conficker Worm Alert! IN BOLD TYPE

The Conficker Worm has shocked PC security experts. Over nine million computers are supposed to be already infected. One million new computers are being added to this every day. The solution to the problem: The free program a-squared Free 4.0 checks whether Conficker is already present on the computer. In the worst case, the free program immediately removes the security risk.

a-squared Free 4.0 removes the Worm free of charge!

With a-squared Free 4.0, Emsi Software offers a free security solution for private users. In addition to their own Malware engine, this program uses another search engine from the virus experts Ikarus in parallel, thus offering double the level of security. This means that the program is currently capable of detecting and eliminating almost 2.6 million types of damaging software.

Read all facts about the Conficker Worm in the detailed Knowledgebase article: http://www.emsisoft.com/en/kb/articles/ticker090121/

a-squared Free 4.0 (45 MB) is available free of charge for private users. The program runs under Windows XP, 2003/2008 Server and Vista. It no longer runs under Windows 98, ME and 2000. Its big brother a-squared Malware 4.0 which provides permanent malware protection costs US $39.95 per year. Homepage Emsi Software: http://www.emsisoft.com/
a-squared Free 4.0: http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/
a-squared Anti-Malware 4.0: http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/antimalware/

Have a nice (malware-free) day!
Your Emsi Software Team
http://www.emsisoft.com

© 2009 Emsi

NWA-PCUG Editor: As noted above, use http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/ to download the FREE a-squared file.

Also of interest, is the Saturday, January 24, 2009 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Business & Farm section article, "Computer Virus Ails Corporate Networks, by Democrat-Gazette staff and Wire Reporters"

Following are excerpts directly related to this virus.

"A compter virus called Downadup, aka Conficker, is still spreading and infecting corporate compters and servers, making it the most severe Internet outbreak in years.

About 1.2 million networks were contaminated as of Thursday, Mikko Hyppoenen, chief reserach officer at Helsinki-based Internet security software maker F-Secure Oyj, said in a telephone interview. That's up from less than a million reported Jan 20. Other experts say it is the worst infection since the slammer worm infected the Internet in January of 2003 and it may have infected as many as 9 million personal computers around the world.

The virus, also known as Conficker, infects computers and servers running on Microsoft Corp's Windows operating system, acording to computer software company F-Secure. The virus typically blocks users from addessing their accounts and also spreads through infected USB sticks. F-Secure posted a warning about the virus on its Web site Jan. 7. The virus, also called a worm, is different from other outbreaks because it mainly affects corporations and not home computers.

"It's still spreading, but not exzplosively," Hyppoenen said. It's been around for while, so it must start to abate."

Kym Patterson, chief security officer for the state of Arkansas, said the state has only seen a few instances of the worm in its network, which supports more than 600,000 computers, including those at state agencies, boards commissions, public schools, colleges and universities.

"We have seen sporadic instances of this worm," said Patterson, who didn't have exact numbers on hand Fiday. "Our Security monitoring software has picked it up and alerted the owners that they were infected and they needed to clean it up." Randy Foshee, director of the Information Technology Department for the city of Little Rock, said he was not aware of the worm showing up in the city's system."

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