Researchers find new variant of Conficker worm

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Researchers have revealed the techniques that the Conficker worm uses to spread so rapidly, as well as information on a new variant of the most serious Conficker B strain.

SRI International researchers published details of the new code they called Conficker B++, which they said could signal a shift in the strategies used by Conficker’s authors.

The report said Conficker B++ had the potential to bypass attempts by the ‘Conficker Cabal’ to keep the Conficker B worm under control by cracking the algorithm the worm uses to look for new code in different domains.

The Conficker Cabal is a broad industry alliance brought together by Microsoft, which is responsible for efforts to stem the growth of the worm.

Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer for BT, also wrote on his blog about one of the biggest main reasons Conficker has grown to the size it has, which was IT administrators using easy-to guess passwords.

He said that most people didn’t choose passwords that remained secure against modern password-guessing attacks. He also said that Conficker B wasn’t actually very clever in only using 200 common passwords to break into a network.

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