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 theorized, but may still have plans to make a buck off their work.

To protect against the Conficker worm, first make sure you’ve installed the patch that closes a targeted hole in the Microsoft Server Service. Next, protect any network shares and administrator accounts with a strong password, as Conficker will try to guess easy ones.

Finally, you can block the worm’s third infection, which hijacks thumb drives and other removeable media, by disabling Autorun on Windows. PC World has a download available that can automate that step for Windows XP users, and Microsoft has posted manual instructions.

Details are scarce, unless Russian is your language of choice, but CNews is reporting that Russia plans to develop its own national operating system. The move is designed to reduce Russia’s need to rely on foreign software and licensing agreements. And the alleged “open code” solution, likely a Linux/GNU derivative, will give Russia a greater degree of customization, as well as increased control over how the potentially free OS is used and accessed.

This isn’t the first time Russia has dabbled with the idea of widespread open-source software distribution. According to Russia Today, a pilot program is already underway in three Russian regions to replace Microsoft-branded operating systems in Russian schools with Linux alternatives. All Russian schools are expected to make the software switch by 2009, according to Russian leaders.

Expect the national transition to put a large feather in the cap of Linux advocates worldwide. But will it spurn increased U.S. adoption of the open-source OS? The economic crisis might be more fuel for that fire. A “free the penguin” initiative aimed at increasing Linux adoption in U.S. academic institutions signed up more than 3,000 interested schools between September and December of 2008–that’s 20,000 new open-source desktops across 29 separate states.