Currently there are four versions or levels of the Conficker Virus — A, B, C, and D – that are steadily infecting Windows’ Operation Systems worldwide.
Conficker affects Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7 Beta as well some Windows server platforms such as 2000, 2008 and 2008 R2 Beta.
Basically what the virus does is it disables the computer’s ability to defend itself from malware.
There are Conficker precautions that a Windows user can take in order to prevent any of the Conficker levels from infecting a computer.
Using Windows Live Update
Most private Windows PC owners can prevent the Conficker Virus from attacking their computer by simply making sure that the Automatic Update feature is turned on for their PC.
To do this simply press the “Start” button; open the “Control Panel”; go to “Windows Security Center” and make sure that “Automatic updating” is turned on.
This will ensure that the PC has received the necessary out-of-band patch.
Using Group Policy
Group Policy is a way in which networks can prevent the Conficker Virus from attacking PCs at the workplace.
Using Group Policy will negate Conficker’s activities by removing users from the “Administrator” list. Doing this means that it will be very unlikely for the virus to attack a PC on a network.
Third Party Protection
Third party software developers that specialize in anti-virus and malware protection have developed their own patches that scan for and remove the Conficker worm.
Some of these applications will run the scan automatically and others will have a scan-on-demand feature.
Conclusion
Many people believe that the current levels of the worm are just a prelude of things to come.
By having the Conficker virus already disabling malware protection on a PC, it could leave the PC open to other malware attacks.
It is best to make sure that precautions against Conficker have been taken so that there are no security issues later on.
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