Conficker worm involved in a third of online threats

Originally identified in 2008, Conficker is continuing to cause problems for internet users. A new study indicates that the worm has played a part in 31 per cent of the top threats of this year.

F-Secure’s 2014 Threat Report H1 revealed that Conficker takes advantage of  unpatched computers still using Windows XP, in addition to those with pirated copies of Windows. The report features a top 10 list of threats from 1st January to 30th June, 2014. The worm is the largest threat in France, Malaysia, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, and Brazil.

F-Secure Labs’ security advisor, Sean Sullivan, told SCMagazine.com that as Conficker makes its way around the internet, Gameover stands as the next great threat. Although it was largely eliminated earlier this year, it has yet to be 100 per cent mitigated. Sullivan believes that Evgeniy Bogachev, the man responsible for Gameover, could be planning a further botnet network, which could have an even bigger impact that the previous one.

He said:

“After a massive, collaborative international effort to apprehend and prosecute Bogachev, he remains at large and dangerous.”

For businesses still running XP, they would be well advised to take precautions. Posting cyber security jobs would be a good start, as it would ensure they have someone on the team who can spot the signs and take the appropriate action. Of course, such a move would also help with any other virus that could ultimately compromise system and customer data.