Millions of Windows computers have been infected by a new computer worm dubbed “Conficker.” The situation is “not getting better,” but rather is “getting worse,” according to security software vendor F-Secure. In a blog post, F-Secure security researchers report that the number of machines infected by the Downadup worm has skyrocketed from roughly 2.4 million to over 8.9 million in the last four days alone. Downadup is a malicious worm that “uses computer or network resources to make complete copies of itself,” according to F-Secure. And it may also...

Just got this mail about swine flu so just thought of sharing that with you all, What is Swine Influenza? Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza virus that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza in pigs. Swine flu viruses cause high levels of illness and low death rates in pigs. Swine influenza viruses may circulate among swine throughout the year, but most outbreaks occur during the late fall and winter months similar to outbreaks in humans. The classical swine flu virus (an influenza type A H1N1 virus) was first isolated from a pig in 1930. How...

The Conficker/Downadup worm managed to slither onto millions of PCs worldwide at its height, but after it initially infected a computer it only really acted to spread itself, and didn’t cause further harm. Until now. Symantec reports today that it has found a new variant of the virulent worm that will identify antivirus software or security analysis tools running on the infected PC, and attempt to shut down those programs. This is a strong signal that the worm’s mysterious creators haven’t abandoned their creation in the face of worldwide attention, as some in the industry have...

The rampaging Conficker worm (aka Downadup) has managed to infect millions of PCs across the globe, but it has an Achilles heel. One that a company called OpenDNS plans to strike starting Monday. Many types of malicious software like Conficker have to connect to a command center to receive orders, which in the case of Conficker might be to download additional software like a keylogger or data-stealing Trojan. Without those orders, the malware just sits there. Conficker uses an algorithm to create a list of 250 domain names each day that it will check for commands, according to David Ulevitch,...

Now this: Mac malware is now circulating across the Net via pirated copies of Apple’s new iWorks software. The “iServices.a” Trojan hitchhikes on iWork ’09’s installer. The installer for the Trojan horse is launched as soon as a user begins the installation of iWork, following the installer’s request of an administrator password. Once the Mac is infected, the Trojan phones home to let daddy know it arrived safely and is awaiting further instructions. Since then, the same bit of viral nastiness — dubbed OSX.Trojan.iServices.B — has begun showing up...