Downadup (a.k.a. Conficker or Kido) is not the cleverest
e-threat ever. It is just a very well-written piece of malware, highly aggressive
and resistant. The worm did not the damage other worms have done, but it has
great potential though, especially because it can update itself in a smart
manner.
The alleged “Internet Apocalypse” is nothing else than a
simple speculation. So far, the code analysis of different Downadup variants
revealed no other evidence in this respect. The only sure thing by now, other
than its high rate of infections, is that the worm was crafted for deploying
rogue security software on the compromised machines.
The rumors that media amplified are based on the
misunderstanding of an enhanced feature pertaining to the latest variant.
Downadup initial versions connected to a limited number of domains in order to
update. The current enhancement refers to the generation of 50,000 random
domains and the selection of 500 of them that it attempts to randomly connect
for the same update purposes, starting April 1st (see full
description).
Still, the number of the Downadup infected machines around
the globe probably equals already that of Belgium’s
or Netherlands’
population, while Q1 infection rates reveal absolutely alarming figures, as you
can see below.
Top 10 Most Infected Countries |
Percentile infections growth in Feb (compared to Jan) |
Australia |
311.62 |
China |
287.98 |
Indonesia |
256.58 |
Spain |
222.73 |
Philippines |
220.32 |
India |
214.47 |
Thailand |
209.08 |
Malaysia |
183.67 |
Italy |
137.08 |
France |
126.51 |
Top 10 Most Infected Countries |
Percentile infections growth in Mar (compared to Jan) |
China |
683.71 |
Australia |
473.99 |
Indonesia |
339.96 |
India |
316.71 |
Spain |
280.81 |
Philippines |
264.00 |
Thailand |
199.11 |
Malaysia |
193.19 |
France |
164.30 |
Italy |
116.37 |
Top 10 Most Infected Countries |
Percentile infections growth in Mar (compared to Feb) |
China |
237.42 |
Australia |
152.11 |
India |
147.67 |
Indonesia |
132.50 |
France |
129.88 |
Spain |
126.08 |
Philippines |
119.83 |
Malaysia |
105.18 |
Thailand |
95.23 |
Italy |
84.89 |
There is only one point here: Downadup is not a toy or an
April Fools’ Day joke. It is important that you patch your OS with the latest
updates, while also installing and activating a reliable proactive security
suite. Remember to scan everything and to trust nobody!
Better safe than sorry!
P.S.: If your system has been infected, there is still hope.
Check http://www.bdtools.net/, download
the Downadup Removal Tool, follow the instructions and clean your system.
Ideally, once you eliminated Downadup from your machine, you should patch your
OS with the latest updates, install and activate an antimalware suite.
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I rediscovered "all that technical jazz" with the E-Threat Analysis Team at Bitdefender, the creator of one of the industry's most effective lines of internationally certified security software.
View all postsSeptember 06, 2024
September 02, 2024