A Lesson We Should Learn from Conficker

There is a lesson we should learn from the recent Conficker worm infection.  A lesson we had better take to heart or suffer the consequences.

Conficker, a worm that has infected millions of computers has taken the headlines by storm recently.  Experts say three to 12 million personal and small business computers are infected by this worm worldwide.  

I’m Warren Franklin.  I’ve been in the computer security business for over four years helping people counter the effects of cyber crime.  I have seen cyber crime continue to grow at a faster rate every year and it doesn’t look like its going to slow down any time soon.

Conficker gave us an education

There’s no doubt the world has learned a lot about bots (infected computers  remotely controled by hackers) and botnets (groups of infected computers remotely controlled by hackers) over the last few weeks because of the Conficker worm.   There are far more people aware of this worm than, perhaps, any other malware distributed by cybercriminals.

Some experts predicted that the Conficker worm would activate on April first.  Nobody seemed to know what kind of mischief would come from this malware, and it appears nothing did happen.

Conficker hasn’t gone away

Unfortunately, most people have trouble understanding that even though nothing happened on April first, Conficker is still out there waiting for it’s leaders to tell it what to do.  In fact, in just the last few days many experts say Conficker has been updated with instructions to find more vulnerable computers.  What are these cybercriminals up to?

Conficker is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to dangerous worms, trojan horses and other malware.  There are thousands of large and small botnets.  A bot, once under the control of a hacker can be used for all kinds of criminal activities including:  Spam and phishing attacks, designated denial of service attacks, theft of personal or business information, infect more computers, and a whole lot more. 

Many times you can’t tell whether you computer is infected unless you have a quality protection program installed on your computer.  Hackers, most of the time, operate in a stealth mode hiding inside the computer hoping not to be detected.  However, the software they place in an infected computer can cause problems including slowing it down, computer crashes, spam and phishing e-mails, pop-ups, and more. 

Thousands of new malware every month

Cybercriminals are getting more sophisticated.  They are sending out new malware at an increasing rate.  According to a Sophos 2009 annual report over 30,000 new forms of malware are distributed every month infecting new computers. 

Even more concerning, hackers are shifting their focus from e-mail to web sites to distribute malicious code and infect computers.  As a result, innocent looking web sites are infecting unsuspecting computers and turning many of their computers into zombies or bots.  It is estimated that thousands of new web sites are infected every day. 

We’re in the middle of Cyber Wars going on right now

While no one really knows who is responsible for Conficker, the big lesson we should all learn from Conficker is that we are in the middle of giant Cyber Wars going on around the world right now.  Many hacker groups are responsible for this problem.  They come in all sizes, large and small and from all regions of the world.  Involved are individuals, small time criminal groups, larger groups that operate much like the mafia, terrorist groups like the Taliban and Al-Quida, and countries like China, Russia and Iran.  All of these groups are infecting personal and business computers and using them as tools in their arsenal. 

Many hacker groups operate just like a corporation or large company.  Experts tell us you’ll actually find managers, sales teams, product development, distribution and more within these groups.  Is it possible one of these well organized groups are be behind the development of the Conficker worm?

What can you do to fight cyber crime? 

There are two things we can all do to help in the fight against cyber crime. 

1. Make sure your computers are locked down with a professional grade of anti-virus, anti-spyware and bi-directional firewall and keep it up to date.  This is your frontline defense against being infected by malware. 
2. Educate others.  Take the story to your friends, family, and neighbors.  Make sure they understand the situation and how vulnerable they are in these trying times and encourage them to lock their computers down, too. 

I continually ask people whether they think this cyber crime problem is going to get better or worse over the coming years.  Everyone agrees it is getting worse an it doesn’t appear to have an end in site.  Experts agree there doesn’t appear to be a solution to this problem any time soon.

You can help win this battle

When I ask individuals what they plan to do about cyber crime and the cyber wars going on right now?   Most don’t have an answer.   Frankly, they feel helpless and feel like this problem is out of their control. 

What I tell them is that they can join me in the fight against cyber crime and the scourge who are carrying out these Cyber Wars by doing the two things I suggested earlier; education and protection are our two biggest weapons against these bad guys. 

The recent Conficker worm headlines were a great way to alert and educate the public.  However, because nothing appeared to happened, most people will go back to their everyday activities and not give this worm or other threats another thought.  Simply, for most of us, “out of sight is out of mind.”   Cybercriminals understand this and we know they will take advantage of it. 

I invite you to join me in this fight against cyber crime and cyber wars

It is up to all of us to take a stand against cyber crime.  Join me in the fight against cyber crime and the cyber wars.   Take the two steps suggested in this article.  First, lock your computer down so it is hardened against a cyber attack and used as a tool by a hacker.  Second educate as many people as possible and make sure they understand the problem and are protected, too.  Every time we follow these simple steps we are taking one or more computers out of the hands of the bad guys.