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Category: Technology Author : Duncan Riley Posted: February 12, 2009
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Microsoft offers $250,000 reward over Conficker Worm


conficker

Apparently taking out the French Airforce was a step to far, with Microsoft today announcing a $250,000 reward for the folks behind the Conficker worm.

The worm, which is said to have infected over 15 million Windows based computers worldwide, opens infected computers to multiple vulnerabilities, as well as disabling safety features.

Microsoft said in a statement that it has teamed with security researchers, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and operators within the Domain Name System for a coordinated a response designed to disable domains targeted by Conficker.

The full list of companies and groups participating: ICANN, NeuStar, VeriSign, CNNIC, Afilias, Public Internet Registry, Global Domains International Inc., M1D Global, AOL, Symantec, F-Secure, ISC, researchers from Georgia Tech, the Shadowserver Foundation, Arbor Networks and Support Intelligence.











Comments


6 Archived Responses to “ Microsoft offers $250,000 reward over Conficker Worm ”

  1. Kyle Brady
    Feb 12, 2009

    Hackers are notorious for having fickle loyalties and being motivated by reputation…

    So I'm betting that someone in “the community” outs the creators pretty quickly. They'll likely do so as an Anon, but if the person doesn't, they could potentially use such an event to launch them into the world of “whitehat” hacking for big big money.

    I'd give it 10 days, max.

    –Kyle

  2. coffee maker
    Mar 31, 2009

    ironically, even if someone used Conficker to steal my credit card info, there wouldn't be any credit there for them to exploit or spend


4 Trackback(s)

  1. Feb 13, 2009 : Microsoft to open retail stores [Bad Ideas] @ Gear Box
  2. Feb 21, 2009 : Stop the Conflicker Virus and Make $250,000 | MMM
  3. Mar 25, 2009 : .UK and .CA Registries Prepare for Conficker C Worm | Blippitt | Tech News | Affiliate Marketing
  4. Apr 13, 2009 : Conficker Eye Chart: The Simple Test to See If You’re Infected