How many of the geeks out there are safe from Conflicker, a nasty little worm set to go all doomsday on us on April 1st? Hopefully, 99.9% of us are (there’s never a 100% guarantee). I know I am, as is every machine on my home network and that I have control over at work.
But what about those family members that are far away, or at least aren’t using a machine on our home networks? What happens on April 1st to them? Are they protected? And how can you help them find out if they are infected, and get them cleaned up pronto?
A great little article in USAToday listed an easy way to check and see if a machine is infected. Using the browser, go to any of these three sites:
microsoft.com
symantec.com
mcafee.com
If these sites load in any browser, then Conflicker is not installed on the machine and things are good. But to be on the safe side, you should also be sure whatever virus program is being used is updated and being updated automatically.
If you cannot get to those sites in the browser, then you have Conflicker on your PC. And this baby isn’t easy to get rid of. The article suggested two different sites to try:
Enigma’s Conflicker removal tool
Microsoft’s removal tool
The Enigma and Microsoft tools work because Conflicker doesn’t have their URLa blacklisted inside the worm. That may change as Conflicker mutates, but for now the removal tool is available (and free) from both places. I tried the Enigma one myself and downloaded and installed it very easily. The Microsoft site seemed to be overloaded and I could not fully test it, but Microsoft also claims that if you still can’t get help from their site, you can call them toll-free at 1-866-PCSAFETY.
This is one April Fool’s joke I hope we can all avoid.