The Conficker worm that has infected millions of Windows-based computers will likely be used to send spam and steal data much like one of the nastiest botnets on the Internet does, researchers said on Thursday after finding links between the two worms.A week after failing to do anything but snore, the much hyped Conficker worm was roused from its slumber on Wednesday, with infected computers transmitting updates via peer-to-peer and dropping a mystery payload onto PCs. Researchers suspect that the payload program may be a keystroke logger, a spam generator, or both.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10216205-83.htmlConficker cashes in, installs spam bots and scareware and reveals its business model
The makers of Conficker, the worm that has infected millions of PCs, have begun to do what all botnet owners do — make money — security researchers said Thursday as they started analyzing the malware’s newest variant.Conficker.e, as the update’s been dubbed, began downloading and installing on previously-infected PCs at midnight London time, said Kevin Hogan, director of security response operations for Symantec Corp.
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Researchers say Conficker is all about the money
The Conficker worm that has infected millions of Windows-based computers will likely be used to send spam and steal data much like one of the nastiest botnets on the Internet does, researchers said on Thursday after finding links between the two worms.