Below you will find information on the lastest computer worm outbreak that can affect your home PC and your USB Pen Drives without knowledge.  We recommend that you read the instructions below which will take you through testing, removal and also protection.  Please follow the document as soon as possible to prevent the spreading of this attack.

What is the Conficker Worm?

The worm first made the news on November 21st 2008 under the name Conficker.  The worm exploits a loophole in Windows only and does not affect Apple PCs.  The worm has a number of name variations but is well known in the IT industry as Conficker.

What does Conficker do?

The worm is transfered by USB Pen Drives without knowledge and can spread across computer networks via open network shares.

Once the worm has infected the PC, you will notice that the PC will become very sluggish in use and antivirus, spyware removal programs and windows update will be turned off.

The worm will exploit your internet connection by downloading other spyware from various sites and will also capture sensitive information such as name, address, account number etc.

How can i check if my PC is affected?

One thing that the worm does, is to protect itself by blocking access to websites that contain tools for its removal.  Below you will find a link labelled 'Simple Detection Tool'.  Click this link and if you see all the logos are showing.  Even if all the logos are showing you may have another variant so we recommend you follow the next step.

Simple Detection Tool

What can i do if i'm infected or if i just want to be careful?

Microsofts Maliscous Software tool for March runs a scan and checks for the Conficker and other software that can affect your PC.  

Click the link below labelled 'Microsoft Tool' and then click on the Download button.  Once downloaded, double click the file and choose Full Scan from the options.  Please note that the scan may take a long time depending how much space is used on your hard drive.

Microsoft Tool

After the scan is finished, you will need to restart your PC for the changes to take affect.

There are two things that are very important to stop infection or re-infection.  Windows Update and up to date Anti-Virus software.  Please follow the instructions below depending on your version of Windows.

(For Windows XP)

Click on Start

Click on Control Panel

Click on Security Centre

Click on Windows Updates

Ensure the option Automatic is selected and then click Ok

Now when your computer has internet access, it will poll the Windows Update service to see whether there are any new updates available, download them and then install.  Be aware that certain updates will require a restart of your computer.

(For Windows Vista)

Click on Start

Click on Control Panel

Click on Windows Update

Click on Change Settings in the top right corner

Ensure that Install Updates Automatically is selected and then click Ok

Now when your computer has internet access, it will poll the Windows Update service to see whether there are any new updates available, download them and then install.  Be aware that certain updates will require a restart of your computer.

(Antivirus)

There are a number of free versions avilable on the market but we recommend AVG which can be downloaded from the web by searching google for AVG Free or clikcking the link below

http://www.avg.com/filedir/inst/avg_free_stf_en_85_278a1439.exe

If you wish to have something a bit more protective, then we recommend looking at AVG solutions found in the link below

http://www.avg.com/product-avg-internet-security?fprd=ais.12m

Now that you have Updates switched on and a AntiVirus installed you will now need to run a full scan of your PC.  Details of this will be provided by your Antivirus provider.

How do i check my Pen Drive and remove the Worm if infected?

Pen Drives that are infected will appear in My Computer as a Folder instead of the usual symbol!

Before inserting the Pen Drive, follow the instructions below to enable some settings.

Windows XP

Click on Start and All Programs

Choose Accessories and choose Windows Explorer

Click on Tools at the top

Choose the option 'folder options'

Click the view tab on the window shown

Select the option to show hidden files and untick the box for 'do not show hidden system files'

Click OK

Leave Windows Explorer open

Windows Vista

Click Start

In the search box under All Programs type explorer

Choose the result lablled Windows Explorer

Press the Alt button on the keyboard and choose Tools

Choose the option 'folder options'

Click the view tab on the window shown
Press the alt key on the keyboard and choose the Tools option

Select the option to show hidden files and untick the box for do not show hidden system files

Click OK

Leave Windows Explorer open 

Insert the Pen Drive and do not open using the Autorun window that pops up!  Instead, find the Pen Drive using Windows Explorer and then open it.  Amongst your files, you are looking for Autorun.inf and a folder called RECYCLER.  Delete both of these and then run a full scan of the Pen Drive using your antivirus.