What is this Conflicken’ Thing??

Conficker?

Conflicker?

DownAndUp?

It’s all so confusing, but whatever the name, the worm is the same. Here’s the scoop (for simplicity of reading, I’m going to just refer to it as Conflicker)

Conflicker has been around for a while, and in fact has three known variants (versions), A, B,  and C. The much-hyped event that’s anticipated for this April Fool’s Day is that a new variant, Conflicker_D will likely be deployed.

Backgrounder:

In general, Conflicker is a botnet type worm which means the way it works is to infect as many machines as possible and enable a “network” of sorts by allowing the worm’s author to connect to the infected machines through the Internet.  Although no other payload has yet been discovered, it is assumed that any payload could be potentially delivered thanks to the fact that Conflicker allows its author to take control of infected machines remotely.

How does Conflicker get on your PC?

Unlike old-school virus that were transmitted via email or other so-called ‘viral’ methods, there is no social engineering or similar trickery required for your PC to become infected with Conflicker.  That is, you don’t infect yourself by clicking or opening anything. In fact, all that’s required to get infected, is to be connected to the Internet and not have the latest patches (Windows updates) from Microsoft! This is because Conflicker gets into your machine through a security flaw in Windows, and if you don’t have the patch from Microsoft that closes up the flaw, your PC is susceptible to infection.

What are the symptoms?

Unfortunately for the unprotected and infected, there really aren’t any visible symptoms to speak of. Unlike old-school viruses that generally had a calling card then emailed themselves to all your friends and wiped out your hard drive, Conflicker remains more valuable to it’s author by being quiet,  efficient, and undetected.  The most common symptom that might alert you to a Conflicker infection is a virus scan reporting that you’re infected.

Why Conflicker?

Why is it valuable to somebody to infect all those (millions) of PCs and not do typical virus-like things such as destroy the machines? Think of it as a person or entity having control of all those machines to do whatever they please, whenever they please!  For example, how much would access to those machines be worth on the black market to an unscrupulous organization that may want to harvest credit card or banking information, or use those machines to launch a DOS (Denial of Service) attack against a website.  The possibilities for how those millions of machines could be put to use are endless, so what the author of Conflicker has done is created a high-value network of PCs that may include your own if you are infected, and may just be sold of to the highest bidder as a tool that’s not likely to be used for good.

How can you protect yourself?

If you have Windows automatic updates turned on, you’re probably already protected as Microsoft  already released the updates that close the flaw back in October of 2008.

If you’re not sure, you can get updates from the microsoft update website by clicking this link: Windows Updates

It’s also a good idea to make sure your Antivirus program is up to date and perform a virus scan as all of the major Antivirus providers currently detect Conflicker variants.

Below is a short list of resources. You can find a more comprehensive list including technical research info at The Internet Storm Center/DSHIELD

Removal Instructions

Microsoft: 
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/962007

Kaspersky:
http://support.kaspersky.com/faq/

BitDefender:
http://www.bitdefender.com/VIRUS-1000462-en–Win32.Worm.Downadup.Gen.html

Trend Micro:
http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp
To be able to access Anti-Virus vendors and SANS, Microsoft and others, from an infected Conficker.C machine, TrendMicro suggests to use “net stop dnscache” from the command line

Sophos:
http://www.sophos.com/support/knowledgebase/article/51416.html

Removal Tools

Microsoft MSRT:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

F-Secure:
ftp://ftp.f-secure.com/anti-virus/tools/beta/f-downadup.zip

AhnLab::
http://global.ahnlab.com/global/file_removeal_down.jsp?filename=12371830475821&down_filename=v3conficker.zip

Symantec:
http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2009-011316-0247-99

McAfee:
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/

ESET:http://download.eset.com/special/EConfickerRemover.exe

BitDefender:
http://www.bdtools.net/

Kaspersky:
http://data2.kaspersky-labs.com:8080/special/KidoKiller_v3.3.3.zip

TrendMicro:
https://securecloud.com/support/sysclean

Sophos:
https://secure.sophos.com/products/free-tools/conficker-removal-tool-network/download (registration required)

This article was written by Andy Trask, Head Geek at Geek Housecalls, the New England area’s original traveling computer geeks, on the web at www.geekhousecalls.com. Geek Housecalls specializes in “anything computer” and, since 2001, has become the trusted in-home computer and technology support provider for over 15,000 families and small business computer users in eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and southern New Hampshire. For help with your computers, gadgets, or network at home or at the office, click here to contact Geek Housecalls via the web, or call toll free:

1-877-4PC-GEEK             (1-877-472-4335)

Peabody MA – North Shore Computer Society presents “Linux for the non-technical”

The following is a Public Service Announcement:

 Maria Collins, Publicity Coordinator

 NORTH SHORE COMPUTER SOCIETY PRESENTATION

 

“LINUX FOR THE NON-TECHNICAL”

 

Are you ready for Linux?  Is this free operating system ready for the masses?  On Thursday, March 12, the regular monthly meeting of the NSCS will be held with Joe Riess and Adam Diamond, Geek Housecalls Geeks, giving a presentation on how to buy and use a Linux computer, as well as information on do-it-yourself installations.  Since 2001, Geek Housecalls has been providing convenient, high quality tech support to home computer users and families looking for something better than “just okay.”  Geek Housecalls does Windows, . . . and Mac’s and Linux.”

 

The presentation will be held at Peabody Municipal Light Plant Auditorium, 201 Warren St. Ext., Peabody, at 7:00 p.m.  All meetings are free and open to the public.  Tech Talk Time will also be held – your chance to share your technical questions and answers.  

 

More information can be found online at

 http://www.northshorecomputer.org 

or at our Toll Free Information Hotline at 888-955-NSCS.

The North Shore Computer Society, Inc. of Peabody, Massachusetts is a non-profit, public charity (501(c)(3) focused on Education, Support and Community.  Its members come from over 60 communities in Massachusetts as well as a number of other states. 

 

Internet Extortion: Who Did You Just Give Your Credit Card To??

Every day, thousands of computer users are being duped into handing over their credit card information in a transaction that looks and feels legit, but is heinously wrong.

There’s a relatively new class of fraudulent programs out there that are brilliantly engineered both technically and socially, and the result is a trail of compromised credit cards.  These programs go by safe-enough sounding names like ‘XP Antivirus 2009′ and ‘Antivirus 360′.  They typically find their way onto your machine through either misleading website ads, pop-ups, or downloads from so-called free music and game sharing sites.

Once on your machine, they promptly go to work, popping up real-looking virus scan screens,  giving you dire warnings that your system is infected, and offering to download the ‘fix’ for a small sum such as $39 or $49.  Should you fall for this, you will be brought to a shopping cart where you make the ‘purchase.’

 Unfortunately, what you shortly discover is that the ‘fix’ does nothing, and more often than not, your computer becomes further infected with other related viruses and malwares and performance becomes degraded to the point where you may completely lose Internet access, or Windows may become so severely corrupted that it will no longer start up, or will fail shortly after startup either by freezing, or by displaying the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death).

At Geek Housecalls, we probably get a dozen calls a day at this point from people whose systems have been corrupted by this vile malware, and with frightening regularity, they tell us that they’ve “‘already tried buying the fix and it didn’t work.’” It has not yet occurred to them that they handed their credit card over to a scam artist!  Our advice to anyone that has done this is to run, not walk, to the nearest phone and contact your bank or credit card company - explain to them what has happened and they will advise you on the best course of action to take.

And your computer?  well, it’s not going to fix itself.  If you are a do-it-yourselfer, you may be able to remove the bug using tools available from help sites like majorgeeks.com, or you could completely wipe your system and reload windows and all your applications (make sure you back up any important data first!).  Or if you prefer, you can hire a service company such as Geek Housecalls to clean up the infection for you.

This article was written by Andy Trask, Head Geek at Geek Housecalls, the New England area’s original traveling computer geeks, on the web at www.geekhousecalls.com. Geek Housecalls specializes in “anything computer” and, since 2001, has become the trusted in-home computer and technology support provider for over 15,000 families and small business computer users in eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and southern New Hampshire. For help with your computers, gadgets, or network at home or at the office, click here to contact Geek Housecalls via the web, or call toll free:

1-877-4PC-GEEK             (1-877-472-4335)

 

Greek Haircuts?

So there I am, reviewing  my google analytics for the past month and at least a little bit curious,  I decide to go see why I’m getting so many referrals from a site called roy.nerdy.net  I investigate and find this rather amusing account of an early morning run-in with one of our Geeksters…

http://www.roy.nerdy.net/index.php?area=main&text_id=5207

Circuit City Store Closings and Liquidation Bad for Consumers

Yesterday, what some of us have feared for some time, finally came to pass. Technology retail giant Circuit City announced that they’ll begin store closings and liquidation this weekend.  This follows too close for comfort on the heels of  tech-retail-rival CompUSA’s failure around the same time in 2007.  The failure of Circuit City to  secure refinancing or a buyer has given them the unenviable distinction of being the largest retailer to succumb to the current crisis in consumer confidence and spending.  On friday, Circuit City announced that it will shut down its remaining 567 stores, translating to a layof f of roughly 34,000 employees.

Computer Repair Boom Defies Economic Doom And Gloom

“Just ask any computer repair shop how things are going lately, and if you don’t hear ‘business is great!’ then they’re doing something wrong.”  So says Dave Ehlke, CEO of Geek Housecalls based in Burlington, MA, who  reports that his company has just concluded its best second half ever, and “the icing on the cake is that we’re experiencing record demand in January, a time that has traditionally seen a bit of a post-holiday seasonal slowdown.”

So why the upbeat demand for computer repair when it’s crash-and-burn stories everywhere else? 

Keyboard Shortcuts – Not Just For Geeks!

It always amazes me when people aren’t aware of the secret power behind keyboard shortcuts.  Maybe I take it for granted because I’ve been around ‘a while’ and started using computers back when all we had was keyboard shortcuts and a mouse was a wha? 

Keyboard shortcuts, for those who don’t know the term, are combinations of keys that, when pressed together, perform certain functions.  For example, probably the most commonly used keyboard shortcuts are CTRL-C (copy) and CTRL-V (paste) – Ruh Roh! You’re thinking, there goes that geek being geeky and spewing out cryptic stuff like “CTRL”… Can’t this be explained in English?

The Geek Housecalls Blog Has Moved to GEEKABLOG.COM

Geek Housecalls blog has moved to GEEKABLOG.COM, the official blog of Geek Housecalls. To see the latest posts from Geek Housecalls, click here to go to Geekablog.com.

All posts from this blog have been reposted at geekablog.com.

Flat Screen TV Doing Double Duty as Computer Monitor

So here I am, perusing the flat-screen TV aisle of my local BJs Wholesale Club.  James’ birthday is fast approaching, and with Justin recently graduated  from college with his ultra-geeky degree in audio production, working (Huzzaah!), and moved out, James will finally have his own room, and if my shopping is successful today, maybe a new flat-screen TV to go with it.  Here’s the hitch, the room so recently abandoned by Justin is hardly palatial measuring roughly 8×12 feet, most of which is occupied by a bed, desk, computer, and half-dozen fish tanks (don’t ask!).

So imagine my surprise and delight as I’m reading through the specs on the box of a Sylvania 22″ LCD TV, when I see “WXGA” listed as an input. Now to non geeks, reading those four letters on the side of a TV box may mean nothing, but to this geek, it means I can recycle the clunky outsized space-hogging (did I mention big or bulky?) 19 inch  CRT computer monitor that currently occupies most of James’ desk working area.  In it’s place, I can put this sleek new TV, that not only functions as a TV, but also as a computer monitor!  In short, WXGA means “Wide eXtended Graphics Array” which is geekspeak for ” connects to your computer as a monitor.”  What’s more, for about $49, I can get a bracket that allows me to hang the TV-turned-monitor on the wall over the desk, thus freeing up all of the desktop surface for James to spread out and do his homework (or more likely, get a couple more fish tanks).

Not all flat screen TVs have the XGA or WXGA connection, so if you’re thinking about taking advantage of a double-duty unit for a small space as I did, make sure you specifically look for XGA, WXGA, WSXGA, WXGA+ or a similar derivative in the specs for the unit you’re considering.  Oh, and one more thing… No need to buy a separate DVD player for the new TV as most computers have the ability to play DVDs, and since the TV is also the computer monitor well… you get the picture

This article was written by Andy Trask, Head Geek at Geek Housecalls, the New England area’s original traveling computer geeks, on the web at www.geekhousecalls.com. Geek Housecalls specializes in “anything computer” and, since 2001, has become the trusted in-home computer and technology support provider for over 15,000 families and small business computer users in eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and southern New Hampshire. For help with your computers, gadgets, or network at home or at the office, click here to contact Geek Housecalls via the web, or call toll free:

1-877-4PC-GEEK             (1-877-472-4335)

 

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions… Desktops and Laptops in Price Shootout at Walmart

While I was at Walmart last night…

While I was at Walmart, (yea… looking for a Wii for my grandkids. Good luck on that), I did as any good geek would do and took a stroll through the computer aisle to see what was being offered in the sprawling land of “Save money. Live better.”  And frankly, I was pretty impressed by how much silicon a few hundred bucks can buy.  Not only did they have a $298 “bare bones” tower with a gig of ram and a hefty-for-the-price 160Gb  hard drive, it also came preinstalled with the increasingly rare Windows XP (considered a plus by most geeks!).

What really caught my eye though, was the pile of laptop computers priced down in the $500 range, and clearly making the choice between desktop and laptop much harder than it’s ever been.  Of course, if you’ve been jonesing for a laptop but put off by the high price tag, this may be making the decision easier instead of harder…

Now if it’s WinXP you’re after in an adult-sized (more about this later) laptop, you’ll probably have to go the custom route through Dell or Acer because in the brightly lit aisles of Walmart (and I suspect most other computer and discount retailers), sadly, Vista has won the war for shelf space, and nary an XP was in sight.

But let’s get back to the decision.  Remember the decision? This post is about the decision.  Customers are constantly telling me that they are thinking about getting a laptop for themselves or their kids. And of course, they’re a little nervous about uprooting the old desktop computer and want to know what this professional geek thinks about desktop vs. laptop.

Well, I can’t give you a definitive answer as they both have their merits, and what it really boils down to is a personal decision based on your needs, and to a certain extent emotional and aesthetic appeal (for the record though, in the Geek household we have 6 desktops and 3 laptops… yea, we’re geeks…) So let’s discuss some pros and cons…

Pro: Laptops are portable, can be taken almost anywhere.

Con: Laptops are portable, can be stolen almost anywhere. Laptop computers left in view are responsible for an awful lot of broken car windows (see related post Low-tech criminals snatch high-tech gadgets)

Pro: The laptop computer’s small footprint really lends itself to usage in tiny spaces without requiring a dedicated “computer desk”

Con: If the screen fails or is damaged, often the cost of repair is significantly higher than the cost of replacing a standalone flat-screen monitor.  Also, laptop screens are more prone to damage, particularly by kids, and surprisingly often, by users who close the cover without realizing a small object such as a pen or pencil is sitting on the keyboard and as a result, damaging the keyboard, cracking the screen, or both.

Pro: Sleek design – let’s face it, nobody likes the rats-nest of wire that accompanies the desktop computer with all its wire-dangling keyboards and mice and speakers and stuff. The laptop is wonderfully wire-minimal with usually only a power cord necessary, and everything else built in.

Con: Coffee, soda, water, wine, whatever beverage you happen to be drinking at the moment a stray elbow connects with a glass is  almost 100% certain (thanks to the laws of a certain Mr. Murphy) to splash directly into your keyboard. For a desktop computer, this is a non-event typically requiring the replacement of a keyboard at roughly $20. For a laptop however, it is often a life-ending catastrophe (for the computer that is…) as liquid seeps down through layers of printed circuit boards, creating new and unintended paths for electricity to run rampant through unsuspecting low-voltage components essentially cooking them within a matter of seconds (see related post LAPTOP FIRE DRILL: Don’t Wait! Be Prepared for that spilled drink!)

And finally, this is considered a pro by most veteran laptop users but almost universally considered a con by laptop newbies… Old habits die hard, and newbs often find themselves missing the feel of a mouse in hand. Touchpads, trackballs, eraser-tips,  and other laptop navigation devices are often cursed by first-time laptop users, that is, until they get used to them, and then it’s business as usual

So there’s our discussion in a nutshell. And in case you’re still torn by indecision, allow me to throw a little fuel on the fire…

 Here’s what may be the most intriguing offer I spotted during my brief tour of Walmart. Check out the petite and cute-as-a-kitten Acer Aspire laptop that’s designed especially for kids and travelers. It comes with a gig of RAM and a 120 Gig hard drive and a tiny price tag of only $348 for a real (albeit tiny) laptop with Windows XP, wifi and webcam built in, and available in pink and blue (didn’t I mention about emotion and aesthetics?).  The catch? No CD/DVD drive, but that’s something you may be able to live without in our increasingly interconnected and download-friendly world.

 $348… Wow!  Don’t even ask me what I paid for my clunky Packard Bell 486 computer with a 380 Mb (Megabyte, not gigabyte!) hard drive and 4Mb of RAM back in 1993…

This article was written by Andy Trask, Head Geek at Geek Housecalls, the New England area’s original traveling computer geeks, on the web at www.geekhousecalls.com. Geek Housecalls specializes in “anything computer” and, since 2001, has become the trusted in-home computer and technology support provider for over 15,000 families and small business computer users in eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and southern New Hampshire. For help with your computers, gadgets, or network at home or at the office, click here to contact Geek Housecalls via the web, or call toll free:

1-877-4PC-GEEK                  (1-877-472-4335)