OpenDNS and Kaspersky team up to block Conficker

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Internet security firm OpenDNS is offering a free new service which could allow IT administrators to not only monitor, but also prevent the Conficker Worm from spreading.

Microsoft already offers capabilities to detect and remove the worm if it is found by its Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT). However OpenDNS, in partnership with Kaspersky, says it also offers a way of stopping the worm by preventing it from downloading information and updating itself from different domains.

The domain names change every day due to an algorithm, but Kaspersky has figured out a way to predict the domains that will be used by the virus.

Kaspersky has shared the information with OpenDNS, which now offers its users the ability to block these domains.

Vitaly Kamluk, head of anti-botnet research at Kaspersky Lab, said in a statement that although the Conficker (or Downadup) worm isn’t technologically innovative, it is still regarded as one of the most dangerous IT threats of the moment.

The worm has already infected millions of Windows PCs, mainly because system administrators throughout the world hadn’t patched properly.

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