Lest we forget Conficker - The Worm That Nearly Ate the Internet - It infected 10 million computers. So why did cybergeddon never arrive?

Just over 10 years ago, a unique strain of malware blitzed the internet so rapidly that it shocked cybersecurity experts worldwide. Known as Conficker, it was and remains the most persistent computer worm ever seen, linking computers with Microsoft operating systems globally, millions of them, to create a vast illicit botnet, in effect, a black-market supercomputer. That much power controlled by its unknown maker posed an existential threat not just to any enterprise connected to the web, but to the internet itself.

At its height, when it consisted of at least 10 million individual IP addresses, there were few computer networks in the world secure enough to withstand an attack from it. And yet it was used only once, to spread a relatively minor strain of “scareware” intended to frighten unsuspecting users into downloading fake antivirus software.

Surely something bigger was coming. But it never did. Why? Who created Conficker, and why bother if they were not going to use it?

Read more about what was pieced together and what happened to the suspected perpetrators at #^https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/29/opinion/sunday/conficker-worm-ukraine.html

#worms #security #virus
#^Opinion | The Worm That Nearly Ate the Internet