Conficker Virus Comes Alive, Attacks PCs

By Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 24, 2009 6:45 PM CDT

(Newser) – Weeks after causing an April Fool's scare, the Conficker bug has come to life and used some personal computers to send out spam, Reuters reports. The computer virus, which has infected millions of PCs, downloaded the spam software onto a small percentage of them in recent weeks. One expert warns this is just the beginning. "Expect this to be long-term, slowly changing," he said.

Conficker has also downloaded a virus onto PCs warning of an infection. If users agree to buy fake anti-virus software, their credit card data is stolen and even more malware is downloaded. Also called Downadup or Kido, Conficker infected personal computers last year and enabled a remote server to effectively control them—but did little else until now.

Different editions of the Windows Vista computer operating system are on display at a store in New York in this Jan. 30, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file)

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

spam • computer virus • Symantec • Conficker

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

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More Newser Stories

Hacker Releases Symantec Code After Extortion Fails

Anonymous-linked hacker tried to extort $50K from antivirus firm

Facebook Virus Gang Living in Luxury

Koobface Gang not bothering to hide their identities, location

Facebook Closes 45K Accounts to Stop 'Worm'

Ramnit worm steals login info, spreads nasty links

New Virus Hacks Your Bank Account, Covers Tracks

'SpyEye Trojan' helps thieves go undetected

NY Times Mistakenly Sends Email to 9M People

It was apparently just a miscue, not spam

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Newser By Users

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