Click to play videoNew Delhi: It's crippled the French air force and the Royal Navy. Now's it's gunning for your computer. On the first of April - Conficker, the most wide spread computer worm in history - could turn your PC into a zombie.
Many experts feel that on April Fool's day, the worm could get fresh instructions from it's creator. Those instructions could be to crash your computer, steal your passwords, send spam email - anything.
First discovered in November 2008, Conficker, also called Downadup or Kido uses a security flaw in Windows to gain entry. Once inside, it disables your anti-virus software and automatic security updates. It then infects all other computers and thumb drives linked to yours.
Each infected PC creates and makes daily calls to almost 50,000 new addresses on the web.
Conficker's creator could send it fresh commands from any of those addresses. It's very hard to monitor all those millions of new addresses. And that's why it's so hard to shut it down.
Here's what you can do. First close the hole in your Windows OS - download the patch. Program your PC to get fresh updates automatically. Next - download software to hunt for and kill Conficker. Avoid "free" security scans from suspicious companies. Also turn off the "Autorun" option on your PC - which automatically launches programs from external devices.
One of the objectives of worms like these is to steal your password. Make them tough to crack - use a mix of letters, special characters and numbers. Use separate passwords for all your bank accounts and credit cards. And remember to change them often.
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