[auton-users] Critical Notice for all Windows Users: Conficker Virus Warning and Fast Facts

[Michael J. Baysek]

Hi Lab,


You may have heard about the virus known as "Conficker".  The virus has 
had mainstream media attention, and is expected to be one of the biggest 
worms we have seen in years.  Tomorrow, the virus "phones home" for 
instructions.  Any machine infected by this virus is likely to be turned 
into a botnet zombie host.


There are simple checks you can do yourself to see if you have the worm. 


1) If you open Internet Explorer and try to visit 
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and you are unable to load the site, 
you may already be infected by the worm.


2) Go to Start -> Run.  Type services.msc in the box, and press Enter.  
Look to see if BITS or Windows Defender services are disabled.  If they 
are, you may be infected.


THIS IS CRITICAL.  If you are on a Windows host, please be certain (AND 
DO IT NOW) that you have run Windows Update and verified all patches are 
installed.  If you cannot access Windows Update, and believe your 
machine to be infected, please let me know, unless you wish to clean the 
virus yourself.


Again, You must do this today.  The virus 'wakes up' on April 1. 


-- 
--
Michael J. Baysek, Systems Analyst
Carnegie Mellon University - Auton Lab
www.cmu.edu - www.autonlab.org
412-268-8939