It may have been the most high profile security threat of last yes, but Conficker’s influence seems to be on the wane. According to figures from security software firm BitDefender occurrences of the Conficker worm dropped significantly in January. The company’s most recent global top 10 threats report shows that Win32.Worm.Downadup.Gen, to give the virus its full name, has dropped from first to third place.
“Conficker has been one the most high-profile threats of recent years, with many variants. The damage it can cause varies from exploiting weak passwords to blocking access to security vendor websites.” said Catalin Cosoi, Head of the BitDefender Online Threats Lab.
“However, it seems that a combination of migration away from the Windows XP OS and better awareness amongst users means it is no longer as widespread as it once was. Of course, people still need to remain vigilant and make sure their computers are fully protected to avoid infection.”
The gap created by Conficker has been partly filled by a newcomer – Trojan.Crack.I. This apparently harmless keygen installs a Trojan that collects various details about other applications on the compromised computer, as well as installing a backdoor service that allows remote access to the infected system.
Its emergence in second place is an indicator of the fact that the worldwide software landscape is affected by piracy and the subsequent threats posed by this practice.
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