Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity
    • Database
    • IT Management

    How Much Is Conficker Really Impacting Enterprises?

    By
    Brian Prince
    -
    March 27, 2009
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      With all the buzz over the Conficker worm, it remains an open question at this point just how many enterprises will actually be affected.

      Between the presence of tools to remove the Conficker infection, a patch for the Windows vulnerability it exploits and general awareness, it seems enterprises should have a good handle on the worm. Whether they do or not may depend on who you ask.

      The folks at Damballa, a company focused on botnet detection, said Conficker was far from being a major problem in the typical enterprise.

      “We do see Conficker compromises in enterprises, but they comprise a minority of the total number of compromises we see in these environments,” said Tripp Cox, vice president of engineering for Damballa. “The majority is the long tail of smaller botnets.”

      Conficker, Cox noted, was neither a targeted nor a “low-and-slow” attack, so existing defenses performed reasonably well.

      “Our experience with enterprises has been that they tend to do a good job of patch management, which diminished the propagation effects of Conficker in their networks,” he explained. “What compromises did occur, most enterprises were able to quickly track down based on their noisy, brute-force attempts to guess employee passwords.”

      Still, someone was getting infected-at one point, security researchers put the number of compromised PCs at several million. In February, Fortinet’s threat research team estimated there were about 100,000 exploit attempts each day from Conficker. For March, there has been a slight drop in exploit attempts, but Fortinet expects that number to jump back up in April.

      “You would have thought that something like Conficker would be a nonevent for enterprises,” said Mark Harris, global director of SophosLabs. “The patch was available early, it should be very straightforward to patch it, it spreads by no password or very, very simple ones … I think the experience that we’ve had over the past couple months is that security policies within organizations are not as good as they think they are.”

      Given that it is unknown how Conficker will update itself next, enterprises still need to be on the alert for the worm’s next move. It should be noted though that while Conficker C will begin contacting new domains April 1, the actual update could theoretically be unleashed much later.

      “As long as the hacker has not activated any domain, the worm cannot find any active one and thus the return of Conficker will never happen,” Nguyen Tu Quang, CEO of BKIS (Bach Khoa Internetwork Security), said in a statement. “In short, the return of the worm may be on April 1, 2, 3 … or even any arbitrary day, depending on the hacker.”

      Quang was optimistic that the efforts of those fighting Conficker-the code of which BKIS researchers say is related to 2001’s Nimda worm-will make a difference.

      “We also observe that with their great efforts, Microsoft and Conficker Cabal … have successfully taken control of at least 13 percent [of the] domain names that the Conficker writer may use,” Quang said. “That also means the spreading rate of the worm will be reduced by about 13 percent when it returns.”

      Brian Prince

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×