Beware: Conficker C Worm

We have been receiving several questions about the Conficker C worm that is on the news
which is set to release on April 1st.  

Here is some information on the Conficker worm:

• The Conficker worm exploits a hole in Windows systems.
• The hole was patched in October 2008, if you ran your Windows Updates.
• The entire capability of this worm is currently not fully known.
• You can go to http://www.confickerworkinggroup.org to get the best information
  on this worm.
• Another great site with virus information is http://isc.sans.org .
• A characteristic of the Conficker worm is that it will block a computer from performing
  Windows Updates; therefore, a simple way to check to see if your computer may be 
  infected is to try to obtain the Windows Updates. If your computer fails to complete the
  Windows Update, it is very likely that you have the worm or some other type of worm or virus.
• The steps to check for Windows Updates are detailed below.

To best protect yourself make sure you perform the Windows updates for your computer
and have an Anti-Virus program installed with the current virus definitions.

Kevin Weishaar
Network Technician
West River Cooperative Telephone Company
777 or 605-244-5213

To ensure that your computer has the latest
Windows updates follow these 4 steps:

1)- Click on "START"

2)- Click on "ALL PROGRAMS"

3)- Click on "Windows Update"
      (it is towards the top of the list)

4)- A window like below should open up.  Click 
     on the "Express" button to check your 
     computer for windows updates.  If the below
     window does not open the computer may have
     a worm or some other form of virus.