Conficker Worm A, B, C Infection
The
Conficker worm is a computer worm that can infect your computer and
spread itself to other computers across a network automatically,
without human interaction
Am I at risk of having the Conficker worm?
Most antivirus software could detect and block the Conficker worm, so if you have updated antivirus software on your computer, you are at a much lower risk of being infected by the Conficker worm.
If you or your network administrator have not installed the latest security updates from Microsoft and your antivirus provider, and if you have file-sharing turned on, the Conficker worm could allow remote code execution. Remote code execution allows an attacker to take control of your computer and use it for malicious purposes.
The Conficker worm can also disable important services on your computer.
Win32/Conficker.B might spread through file sharing and via removable drives, such as USB drives (also known as thumb drives). The worm adds a file to the removable drive so that when the drive is used, the AutoPlay dialog will show one additional option.
In the screenshot of the Autoplay dialog box below, the option Open folder to view files Publisher not specified was added by the worm. The highlighted option Open folder to view files using Windows Explorer is the option that Windows provides and the option you should use.
If you select the first option, the worm executes and can begin to spread itself to other computers.
Am I at risk of having the Conficker worm?
Most antivirus software could detect and block the Conficker worm, so if you have updated antivirus software on your computer, you are at a much lower risk of being infected by the Conficker worm.
If you or your network administrator have not installed the latest security updates from Microsoft and your antivirus provider, and if you have file-sharing turned on, the Conficker worm could allow remote code execution. Remote code execution allows an attacker to take control of your computer and use it for malicious purposes.
The Conficker worm can also disable important services on your computer.
Win32/Conficker.B might spread through file sharing and via removable drives, such as USB drives (also known as thumb drives). The worm adds a file to the removable drive so that when the drive is used, the AutoPlay dialog will show one additional option.
In the screenshot of the Autoplay dialog box below, the option Open folder to view files Publisher not specified was added by the worm. The highlighted option Open folder to view files using Windows Explorer is the option that Windows provides and the option you should use.
If you select the first option, the worm executes and can begin to spread itself to other computers.