Year: 2009

The Register Goes down, People are asking is it the Conficker Worm?

Paul

twitterregister1

I’ve heard stories from other Twitter Folks about it being Denial of Service attack:

twitterregister2

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Now it is possible to have[intlink id=”3236″ type=”post”] Conficker to all botnets[/intlink] to try to go to the site but I am not certian it is the Conficker.  It could be as simple as someone misconfigured a server and no one can get to it.  People who want to check out what people on twitter are saying can search for it and see for yourself.    I’ll update as needed when I find out more, but it will probably be a couple of hours before the site is back up, according to some reports.  I’ll know more later today, so keep tune.

Update at 6:30pm EST

We speculate that the source of the problem may have been a large scale Denial of Service attack against UltraDNS, or an internal operations problem. When we were able to sucessfully query UltraDNS servers, responses were slow to come back, or largely timed out. The problem began to clear itself up around 10:00 am Eastern, when we saw DNS responses returning quickly again, and our favorite sites coming back online.
[Via DynamicNetwork Service Inc.]

It looks like this might of been the cause for Amazon, and some other sites including the Register. I’m not quite sure what happened but someone talks about it on Redidit:

Wed Apr 01 | 14:37:03 >: nslookup xxx.xxx.com ;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached
Edit: Just got off the phone with Register.com support. The technician admitted to me that they have had a “server failure” and the problem is affecting all of their customers.

Although this post suggest they had a server failure, I am not quite sure what happened but I am going to let you figure that out!! This is some really good information go on Twitter. So you can try to figure it out some more for yourself.

Oh a side not, I’ve gotten the right RSS feed working, if you want to subscribe to my site and get automatic updates with full text just subscribe to my feed.

So it Is April 1, 2009 Now What?

Paul

So you survived the [intlink id=”3214″ type=”post” target=”_blank”]April Fools Joke[/intlink] that most people were talking about. Are you more Mindful of what a Virus is and how to best defend against it.  If not let’s go back in the past and talk about some of the necessary Programs:[ad#cricket-right-ez]

  • If you haven’t already installed a [intlink id=”2205″ type=”page”]Free Anti Virus[/intlink], this would be the time to.  Also install a Firewall to better protect you.

  • Never install any software from unknown site — This is most important even though they seem harmless enough there are sites that have [intlink id=”2991″ type=”post”]fake adobe updates or even flash updates[/intlink] that will install Maleware into your system.  So if you have any doubt should visit the main site like Adobe.com to check for updates.

  • [intlink id=”3114″ type=”post”]If something scares you, count to ten[/intlink] —  That is very useful when it comes to scareware sites that like to scare you into buying there fake anti virus software that doesn’t do anything.  I say count to ten because by the time you did you will go looking for information on either that site or that warning and come to the conclusion it was scareware.

  • [intlink id=”2991″ type=”post”]Don’t download untested software[/intlink] —  This is good for those who like to look for programs that are to expensive to buy but they want to have them.  Most of the time Hackers like to use Crackers to infect systems.  Although anything that is questionable can sometimes be infected with a virus so you should stay away from all of them.

  • [intlink id=”3248″ type=”post”]Apple’s OSX isn’t as secure as you may think[/intlink] — I hate when people say they are so glad to have a Mac, and yet it seems to be on the rise.  Macintosh Operating system seems to be getting some attention from Hackers because their more virus and trojans being made for the the Macintosh, so don’t get over confident.

Although these are just a few steps to consider when dealing with virus, trojans, and Worms.  It all depends on the End user to prevent this from happening.   So if you want to protect your identity and system you should consider using the right software.  If your a Vista you should also make sure your not running as an Admistrator, this will also protect your from getting infected.

Pirate Bay Get’s bought by Warner Bro’s –(April Fools???)

Paul

wb-tpb-love

Torrent Freak just released this information:

[ad#cricket-right-ez]In the press release, both groups gave a positive outlook to the deal. “The Pirate Bay team has built an exciting and powerful media platform that complements Warner Bros’s mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” said Jim Kjeyzer, Chief Executive Officer of Warner Bros.”

This probably won’t go well with the Pirate Bay users because of the fact that most of them liked the idea of having a place to hide and not be monitored. What will people do now?

As for some this seems to be an April Fools Joke, I think it might be but I am unsure as how real this is. I will keep up to date on this situation and find out for sure. We should know something April 1, 2009 4:30pm EST. I will have more information to follow. Do you think this is a Joke or Do you think this Real? I will let the readers decided!!

*Update 4/1/09 at 8 pm EST

Looks like it was an very good april fools joke.  I haven’t seen any press releases and Piratebay changes the homepage back to normal.  I’m going to conclude that it didn’t happen.  I thought it might be but wasn’t sure.

Mac Users aren’t Immune, so stop broadcasting “You’re glad you have a MAC”

Paul

With the Conficker going on right now, I am seeing more and more Tweets about Mactwitconficker and

twitconficker

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Now I might not know a lot but this type of Smug confidence will be the downfall of the Mac’s in the coming years.  I have to ask do you not expect to get a virus at ALL?    You see when a company like Apple starts to get above a certain degree in the eyes of the hackers.  They will become a target, not a big target but a target.

In one of my post I talk about [intlink id=”2173″ type=”post”]Mac’s and Botnet[/intlink], you should really read it.  It talks about why Apple will become the next fail whale.    Some other Articles to Consider are:

And So I went into Google to see the trends for “Mac Virus” and Here is what I seen:

Mac Virus Google Trend

As you can tell Mac’s Virus and Maleware are on the rise.  This doesn’t mean you have to worry about the Conficker worm, but you have to Worry.  Most Apple Users are over confident that they will never get a virus or maleware on there system to the point that they will install it because they think they won’t get it.   I’ve seen in the past where Mac users are [intlink id=”2801″ type=”post”]download programs illegally[/intlink] just because they think they are not going to a Virus or Maleware.

It just gets me going when I constantly see people post about how they have a Mac.  I guess that Mac Ads are working but soon very soon they will change.    Although the mentality of the Mac not getting a virus is so god like that one day something like the Conficker worm will hit Mac’s exclusively because of the attitude of users.  Should Mac’s get anti-virus software, has been asked so many times in the past months that it makes me wonder.  Who has made this happen in the first place?  I’d have to point to Apple.  I don’t agree with there MAC Tax when it comes to buying a computer and will never pay for a mac.  So the next time I see people broadcasting they are glad they have a mac, I’ll just have to send them to this page!!  No Operating system is 100% secure or safe, even Linux systems can have viruses.

Just Google Conficker and you’d be surprise

Paul

Countdown to March First is on it’s way or already depending on your location and People have been sending tweets about the 60 Minutes coverage of the Conficker:

conflickermarch

As you can tell over the last week Google trends is showing a mountain of people looking for this information.  I am so glad the media has talked about this but it has mad a hysteria or frenzy of people trying to find information on this little worm or some are calling a virus.

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Now I must remind you that [intlink id=”2715″ type=”post”]Conficker.a[/intlink], [intlink id=”2754″ type=”post”]Conflicker.B[/intlink], [intlink id=”3214″ type=”post”]Conficker.C[/intlink], and [intlink id=”3236″ type=”post”]Conficker.D[/intlink] are the only worms or viruses out there and that you should really [intlink id=”2205″ type=”page”]protect yourself from every virus[/intlink] because there are more viruses or worms out there than this one.

There are several Free Anti-virus options Available:

  • Clamwin — I’ve been trying this one out over the past month and it seems to work just as good as the others.

  • Avast Home Edition — AVG does better than this one but people seem to like this so I have to add this for people who like this better than the others.

  • AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.5.283 — This is another free one that can remove viruses really easily. Download this and you don’t have to worry to much.

  • Avira Antivirus — This is a free anti virus software that some people like.  I like AVG myself, it’s all user preference on which one you want to use.

As you can tell I have sever options available in my [intlink id=”2205″ type=”page”]Malware Resource page[/intlink] for you to use this is just a few that can be helpful when trying to protect your system.  With Conflicker disabling your windows update and if you have a lot of systems you need to update your patches, I’d go with [intlink id=”2883″ type=”post”]Autopatche[/intlink]r this little program will help install the necessary Windows updates.  You should follow Microsoft advice when you are trying to fix the your system with regards to the Conflicker.    Remember this is not the only computer threat out on the internet but be vigilant with where you go and what you.   You are the last line of defense when it comes to protecting your money, your identity, and you computer.

Although if you have a lot of systems that your are worried has the conflicker worm, Arstechnica released information on easily detecting this worm.  This looks like a positive step in stoping this worm.