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Conficker

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A description of how Conficker spreads

Conficker (also known as Downup, Downadup and Kido) is a computer worm that first showed up in October 2008. It targeted the Microsoft Windows operating system.[1][2][3] It is not known where the name "conficker" came from. "Internet experts" have guessed that the name comes from a mix between two different words: "configure" and "ficken", the German word for "fuck".[4]

Conficker was believed to be the worst computer worm since the SQL slammer worm in 2003.[5] It was estimated 15 million computers were infected with Conficker.[6][7] The virus was supposed to get worse on April 1, 2009, which caused many people to worry about it. However, there were no bad effects.[8]

On 13 February 2009, Microsoft offered a $250,000 USD reward for help with finding and arresting the people who created the computer worm.[9][10][11][12][13]

References

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  1. "Three million hit by Windows worm". BBC News Online. BBC. 2009-01-16. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
  2. Markoff, John (2009-03-19), "Computer Experts Unite to Hunt Worm", New York Times, retrieved 2009-03-29
  3. Porras, Phillip; Saidi, Hassen; Yegneswaran, Vinod (2009-03-19), An Analysis of Conficker, SRI International, archived from the original on 2009-04-01, retrieved 2009-03-29
  4. Grigonis, Richard (2009-02-13), Microsoft's $5,000,000 Reward for the Conficker Worm Creators, IP Communications, retrieved 2009-04-01
  5. Markoff, John (2009-01-22). "Worm Infects Millions of Computers Worldwide". New York Times.
  6. Neild, Barry (16 January 2009). "Downadup virus exposes millions of PCs to hijack". CNN. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
  7. "Virus strikes 15 million PCs". UPI.com. 2009-01-26. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  8. Ian Paul (April 1, 2009). "Conficker D-Day Arrives; Worm Phones Home (Quietly)". PCWorld. Archived from the original on 2009-04-02. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
  9. Neild, Barry (2009-02-13). "$250K Microsoft bounty to catch worm creator". CNN. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  10. Microsoft offers $250,000 reward for Conficker arrest[permanent dead link]. CNET News. February 12, 2009.
  11. Microsoft announces $250,000 Conficker worm bounty Archived 2009-02-17 at the Wayback Machine. Network World. February 12, 2009
  12. Microsoft offers $250,000 bounty for capture of Conficker worm creator. Guardian.co.uk. Februaury 13, 2009
  13. Maggie Shiels (2009-02-13). "Microsoft bounty for worm creator". BBC. Retrieved 2009-02-13.