Conficker Worm: A new threat to computer

Conficker, also known as Downup, Downadup and Kido, is a computer worm targeting the Microsoft Windows operating system that was first detected in October 2008.
An early variant of the worm propagated through the Internet by exploiting a vulnerability in the network stack of Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 Beta, and Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta that was discovered earlier that month.The worm has been unusually difficult for network operators and law enforcement to counter because of its combined use of advanced malware techniques.

Method of Infection:

This worm exploits the MS08-067 Microsoft Windows Server Service vulnerability in order to propagate.
Machines should be patched and rebooted to protect against this worm re-infecting the system after cleaning.
Upon detection of this worm the system should be rebooted to clean memory correctly. May require more than one reboot.
Scheduled tasks have been seen to be created on the system to re-activate the worm.

Autorun.inf files have been seen to be used to re-activate the worm.

Symptoms:

If your computer is infected with this worm, you may not experience any symptoms, or you may experience any of the following symptoms:

• Account lockout policies are being tripped.
• Automatic Updates, Background Intelligent Transfer Service  (BITS), Windows Defender, and Error Reporting Services are disabled.

• Domain controllers respond slowly to client requests.
• The network is congested.
• Various security-related Web sites cannot be accessed.

For more information about Win32/Conficker.b, visit the following Web pages:

• http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/Entry.aspx?Name=Win32/Conficker
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conficker