April Fools' Day on Wednesday could come with a huge computer meltdown. Or not.
It's known as the Conficker virus.
There's a good take on the virus from our sister paper in Fort Worth.
According to their story, the computer infection that is believed to have infiltrated millions of computers is expected to receive a set of instructions from its creator on April 1.
Either way, the anonymous creator of the Conficker virus has caught the attention of computer security experts around the world, with Microsoft going so far as to issue a $250,000 bounty on those who created it.
The Conficker worm, a malicious software program also known as Downadup, has spread through a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. Windows users who automatically receive updates from Microsoft are probably safe. Likely, so too are those with updated antivirus software.
The Conficker worm is thought to have easily found millions of Windows users who haven’t updated their operating systems or don’t have the right protection.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a tool Monday to detect whether a computer is infected by the Conficker worm.
Here's how to remove Conficker from your home computer:
Tools to remove Conficker are available at several Web sites including
Microsoft
Mcafee.
Symantec
but why worry about finding the virus and getting it before it destroys your computer. with a mac u almost can rest assure that you will never have to do that and never get a virus? makes no sense to me. ur almost saying u want a virus.