How Conficker will influence your PC on April 1?

Computer security experts who have analyzed the Conficker worm's code stated it was expected to enter a more menacing phase on Wednesday April 1.

Conficker that was launched last year, as it is suspected by security experts, in the Ukraine, has already infected 2 - 12 million computers worldwide. The worm turns the computer it resides in into a botnet that is controlled by the commands sent from a remote server. Gadi Evron, an expert on botnets who helps governments protect against cyber crime stated some of the ways the botnets could be used were destroying files, connecting to addresses on the Internet and forwarding e-mails. It is also known that botnets can steal identities, log sensitive corporate information, credit card numbers, online banking passwords or other key data users of infected PCs type on their keyboards, for selling it to criminal rings afterwards. 

However, many experts don’t expect the Wednesday change to be crucial. It is more likely that Conficker will have an enhanced functionality, possibly making it more dangerous, they said. Moreover, experts expect Conficker's authors to change the worm in such a way that it will be avoiding attention and preventing companies from safeguarding against it. Several of such tools have already been released by Microsoft and other companies.

The virus has been exploiting weaknesses in Microsoft's Windows operating system. Microsoft had announced a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Conficker, creators back in February.

Many independent security firms including McAfee, Symantec Corp and Trend Micro Inc stated they would be closely monitoring the cyberspace to see how the worm mutates on the day predicted and over coming weeks.