Windows Worm Hits 8.9 Million Pcs

The Conficker worm, which caused havoc on Windows PCs in October 2008, came back last month to strike more than 3.5 million PCs in 24 hours under a new name, The Worm, dubbed Conficker, Downadup, or Kido, spreads via a vulnerability that Microsoft patched in October 2008.Once a machine, it sets up an HTTP server and resets a machine's System Restore point to stop administrators from deleting it.The worm contains the usual Trojan package that allows the controller to download new files from their own server.But in an unusual twist, the malware generates hundred of seemingly random domain nams to scan for updates, making it much harder to track the one used by the malware writer.
The worm resurfaced earlier last month, infecting Windows workstations and servers and causing a variety of problems for users, with infections skyrocketing to 8.9 million PCs by the later half of January 2009.