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Conficker Worm Strike Reports Start Rolling In

Posted by Soulskill on from the be-on-the-lookout dept.

Nieriko writes "Reports are trickling in about the impact from the Conficker worm, as infected systems passed zero hour at midnight and began downloading additional malicious components. Here are a couple of the more notable incidents caused by Conficker so far, according to published reports: — '... shortly after midnight local time, an ATM in the capital city of Reykjavik began spewing 100-Krona notes. ... A nuclear missile installation near Elmendorf Air force Base outside of Anchorage, Alaska briefly went on a full-scale military alert after technicians manning the bunker suspected that several of their control systems were infected with Conficker.'"

51 of 508 comments (clear)

  1. I think its infected my car. by SuperBry · · Score: 5, Funny

    All my radio stations were switched to fox news radio.

    1. Re:I think its infected my car. by niskel · · Score: 5, Funny

      They just want to make sure you become a properly informed citizen from a reliable and unbiased source!

    2. Re:I think its infected my car. by gollito · · Score: 5, Informative
      No more biased than any of the other stations.

      They all have agendas.

    3. Re:I think its infected my car. by notarockstar1979 · · Score: 3, Funny

      No, I did that on my way out this morning. By the way, tell your mom I said hey.

    4. Re:I think its infected my car. by orthancstone · · Score: 4, Insightful

      All may have agendas (not necessarily true), but some are more biased than others (yes, Fox News fits in that category).

    5. Re:I think its infected my car. by vlm · · Score: 4, Funny

      All my radio stations were switched to fox news radio.

      A station that is not clearchannel still exists?

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    6. Re:I think its infected my car. by neomunk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      university-elitist brainwashing...

      Most people call that "learning".

    7. Re:I think its infected my car. by WgT2 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Your list is but an understatement of the depth of their leanings... at least Fox gives a conservative view - whereas the others do NOT.

      What is amazing is that the real haters of Fox don't acknowledge the bias of the others. It's completely laughable.

    8. Re:I think its infected my car. by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sure. I'll be swinging by the cemetery later anyways.

    9. Re:I think its infected my car. by wizden · · Score: 3, Funny

      They are going to start selling water made from his tears.

    10. Re:I think its infected my car. by beadfulthings · · Score: 4, Funny

      Oh, it's a lot worse than that! My laptop keeps telling me that all my base are belong to them, but it won't tell me who they are...

      --
      "Here's what's happening. You're starting to drive like your Dad..." - Red Green
    11. Re:I think its infected my car. by Talderas · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Some of my scripts spit out 9.5 GB log files.

      See?

      http://img25.imageshack.us/my.php?image=goodlogsgonebad.png

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
    12. Re:I think its infected my car. by Me!+Me!+42 · · Score: 3, Funny

      I think its obvious to anyone
      (any "true" anyone.)
      The Conficker Worm is infecting people's brains. Apparently its using Fox News as a vector to turn the viewers into netbots. This represents a significant escalation in virus technology.
      Oh wait, I guess this has bee around for a while.

      --
      -- My apologies if the above facts contain any opinions, or vice versa! --
    13. Re:I think its infected my car. by Anonymous+Psychopath · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The degree of bias from Fox/CNN/MSNBC is subjectively scored based on how much you agree with whatever slop they're dishing out.

      In other words, if you believe MSNBC has no bias, then you will also believe that Fox has an extreme bias. The reverse is also true.

      --

      Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

    14. Re:I think its infected my car. by cjb658 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I consider myself to be a conservative. From my perspective:

      -Fox News is right leaning
      -CNN is slightly left leaning
      -MSNBC is forward-leaning (because they're getting pounded from behind by the Obama administration)

    15. Re:I think its infected my car. by brkello · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Maybe because time and time again Fox News proves to not have any journalistic integrity. They are the station that have whack jobs like Jack Thompson on all the time since he is an "expert" on video game violence. They only present one side. I mean, Obama addressed the nation and you had Bill O'Reily critiquing it. He isn't a journalist at all, just someone pushing his agenda (somewhat hypocritically). CNN had a team of people discussing what Obama talked about on both sides of the aisle. But then again, CNN has conservative air heads like Campbell Brown on. They also used to have commentaries from Glenn Beck. If you think Fox News is anything but a tool to push an agenda, then you really aren't paying attention. It is not news and I wish there was some way to sue them so they have to take that out of their name until they actually meet some basic journalistic standards.

      --
      Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
    16. Re:I think its infected my car. by brkello · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I never got the whole elitist thing. So Obama is an elitist because he went to a good school and got good grades? I'd love to be an elitist then. How was McCain not an elite with his war hero background and millions of dollars? Do we want sub-elite people running the country? I don't really think the conservatives thought this insult through very well.

      --
      Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
    17. Re:I think its infected my car. by Crazy+Taco · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Most people call that "learning".

      Learning is the mental absorption and retention of information. Whether the information you learned is true or false is something else again, and I think that's the point he was making. Some universities may, in fact, be causing their students to learn false information. Brainwashing is a form of learning too.

      --
      Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it.
    18. Re:I think its infected my car. by kbielefe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There are two parts to the Fox News Channel: the journalism part and the editorial part. The journalism part is actually pretty "fair and balanced," and that's the part most people refer to when they talk about media bias. Unfortunately, that part comes on while no one is watching.

      The editorial part is unabashedly conservative, but even they do a better job than the other channels in at least having someone there to provide token opposition. Their bias is very evident because they provide the contrast right there. Other channels with less obvious bias usually will at best tell you the other side's position in their own words.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank.
    19. Re:I think its infected my car. by Ian+Alexander · · Score: 4, Funny

      at least Fox gives a conservative view - whereas the others do NOT.

      Well duh, reality has a liberal bias. ;)

    20. Re:I think its infected my car. by mjhacker · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So conservatives would be okay with a gay couple deciding to get married? Or with decriminalizing marijuana? Or legalizing liquor sales on sundays? What makes the conservatives any less "elitist" for thinking that they can make better decisions for other people? I shouldn't be barred from buying a bottle of wine on Sunday because it might upset a hyper conservative Christian. Or if I was gay, I shouldn't be barred from entering into a simple legally binding contract with another consenting adult who happened to be the same sex. I'd say it's pretty damned "elitist" to make those decisions based on dogmatic values or personal prejudices.

    21. Re:I think its infected my car. by Fastolfe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Government needs to ONLY recognize "civil union" that can be entered into by any two adult people.

      Why only two?

  2. ATM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Why does MY local ATM never spew out 100 euro notes? :(

    1. Re:ATM by Kentaree · · Score: 5, Funny

      Because you live outside the euro zone?

    2. Re:ATM by Robmonster · · Score: 3, Funny

      It does, it just debits them from your account like normal.

      --
      I have no sig yet I must scream.
  3. The damndest thing with these stories today by jollyreaper · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's so hard to tell which ones are too stupid to be true and so stupid they probably are true.

    --
    Kwisatz Haderach
    Sell the spice to CHOAM
    This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    1. Re:The damndest thing with these stories today by Sir_Lewk · · Score: 4, Informative

      From the article:

      In case you haven't guessed it yet, APRIL FOOLS!!! Seriously, if we get any real news about outages, deaths, or disruptions actually caused by Conficker today, you will read it here first.

      --
      "linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
    2. Re:The damndest thing with these stories today by themacks · · Score: 3, Informative

      according to google it did: http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/cadie/

      --
      i read about it in a blog once
    3. Re:The damndest thing with these stories today by gmuslera · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The problem with Google announcements is that they released GMail in Apr.1st. Back in its time, gb of free mail space, working spam filter, and even the interface, then that was almost as unbelievable as the pidgeon powered search engine..

      What if they REALLY got the singularity, and they are officially announcing it now?

  4. Re:Yeah, April Fools... by Anthony_Cargile · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I hope so, otherwise this is Wargames meets reality. If this is a joke, I didn't laugh because I've been watching this ConFlickr worm closely ever since seeing it in action.

  5. This just in... by Bruiser80 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The true nature of the worm has been discovered. Slashdot will be simultaneously accessed by all the infected computers, making Slashdot.org succumb to its own "slashdot effect"

    --
    Arguing with an engineer is like wrestling a pig in the mud. After a while, you realize the engineer enjoys it.
    1. Re:This just in... by jgtg32a · · Score: 4, Funny

      While 4chan dying sounds like a good thing it isn't, Conficker won't actually kill 4chan users so it will only scatter them, spreading the corruption across the internet.

  6. Re:Yeah, April Fools... by mweather · · Score: 4, Funny

    They run Windows.

  7. Genius by MyLongNickName · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Whoever set this virus up was smart to have things happen on April 1st. I never know if these reports are real or someone is making a joke.

    --
    See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
    1. Re:Genius by u38cg · · Score: 4, Informative

      April 1st is a traditional day for time-based malware to go live, dating back to at least the mid nineties.

      --
      [FUCK BETA]
  8. Related Conficker Incident ... by xmas2003 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Rick Astly passes away - rolls over in his grave.

    --
    Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
    1. Re:Related Conficker Incident ... by dmneoblade · · Score: 5, Funny

      But... he said he'd never run around or desert me. The liar!

      --
      Warning, knife is sharp. Please keep out of children.
  9. You can tell who actually RTFA ... by powerlord · · Score: 3, Informative

    The end of the Fine Article:

    Read on after the jump for more Conficker madness.

    In case you haven't guessed it yet, APRIL FOOLS!!! Seriously, if we get any real news about outages, deaths, or disruptions actually caused by Conficker today, you will read it here first.

    --
    This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
  10. Re:Yeah, April Fools... by Em+Emalb · · Score: 5, Informative

    Really? I could have sworn the ATM I saw a while back sitting in an "altered" state was running a customized version of OS2.

    A while back = a couple years though, so I could see it...

    --
    Sent from your iPad.
  11. Re:Yeah, April Fools... by Critical+Facilities · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've been watching this ConFlickr worm closely

    Take note everyone, this is a variant of the Conficker worm, though much more nefarious. According to preliminary reports, it will harness the power of infected, "zombie" computers to flood the internet with pretty pictures of butterflies, ponies, and various other graphic files. The only sure-fire way to protect yourselves is to do a 'search' on your PC for any file with the .JPG extension and delete it.

    Hurry, there is precious little time left. The end is pretty frickin' nigh.

  12. The Best April Fools Joke by gurutc · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Would be if Conficker does nothing after all the man-hours spent preparing for it.

    --
    Moderation in All Things... Especially Moderation - gurutc
  13. Re:Non-story by flitty · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Can slashdot PLEASE implement a "-1 Missed the April Fool's Day Joke" Moderation option?

    --
    Whether or not there is some sort of god, I'm not supposed to say/god is a word and the argument ends there-Smog
  14. Re:Yeah, April Fools... by Em+Emalb · · Score: 5, Funny

    Can you help me? I was able to get rid of all .jpg files on my computer but one. I tried to delete ur_mom_traffic_cone_howdidshedothat.jpg but it won't let me.

    Says "Access denied: this file is in use and cannot be deleted"

    The only things I have running right now are WoW, BT, OOo, Thunderbird, Outlook, Pine, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, 9 VMWare sessions, DreamWeaver and Photoshop.

    HELP!

    --
    Sent from your iPad.
  15. Re:Yeah, April Fools... by h4rm0ny · · Score: 4, Interesting


    I saw a crashed ATM in the UK some years ago that appeared to be running either NT or Windows 2000. Something from around that era, anyway. It was pretty disturbing to see a floating "illegal operation" dialog box on a screen I had previously assumed was some simple and secure dedicated system.

    --

    Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
  16. Meanwhile, on Craigslist... by spywhere · · Score: 4, Funny

    Someone actually shipped a car that was exactly as advertised, and a massage didn't have a happy ending.

  17. Re:Yeah, April Fools... by Clipless · · Score: 5, Funny

    Did you try restarting your computer 3 times? That is what the tech guys at work always tell me to do.

  18. Re:Yeah, April Fools... by +Addict-09+ · · Score: 3, Funny

    you laugh but my elderly father once searched for all dll's and deleted all he could based on something his AV was trying to tell him.

  19. Re:Yeah, April Fools... by YttriumOxide · · Score: 3, Funny

    At least we don't have to deal with that moronic 'OMG ponies' theme this year.

    You're right... OMG KITTENZ is much better as I'm sure everyone can agree.

    --
    My book about LSD and Self-Discovery
    Also on facebook as: DroppingAcidDaleBewan
  20. Re:Yeah, April Fools... by eln · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can you help me? I was able to get rid of all .jpg files on my computer but one. I tried to delete ur_mom_traffic_cone_howdidshedothat.jpg but it won't let me.

    Says "Access denied: this file is in use and cannot be deleted"

    Just be patient, I'm almost done with it.

  21. Re:Non-story by RKThoadan · · Score: 3, Funny

    I think a more general "-1 Whooosshh" option for all missed jokes would be better.

  22. Re:Yeah, April Fools... by daveime · · Score: 4, Funny

    You have to cycle the power on the modem too !