How To Make Sure You Don't Have The Conficker Worm

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It's a sure sign of April Fool's day; we're all under the threat of another #$%#$%$ worm or computer virus attack. Only this time the worm du jour is called the "Conficker Worm" and it's not a question of whether it will infect millions of PCs today; it already has!

All the security experts (worm watchers?) pretty much agree that anywhere from two to ten million PCs worldwide already have Conficker lurking in their system dormant and just waiting to be launched.

The code for Conficker appears to be written to not only compromise the security of its host computers; but turn them into unwitting bots to launch spam attacks and attack other systems for purposes of identity theft. Somewhere in a hollowed-out volcano lair there is a Dr. Evil wanna-be that needs to get a life and leave the world alone.

Here's something you can do other than worry today: check your computer and see if it's been spared.

This is pretty simple.

Go to Google's home page, then Microsoft and then any of the big name security software sites like Symantec or McAfee.

Next, run a Windows Update (Oh yeah, Conficker only infects PCs with Windows - of course!).

If your computer can do all of the above, then you don't have the worm.

If you are not able to do any part of those steps; then click here for a tutorial on how to de-worm your system of Conficker from CNet.

p.s. Today's "In Poor Taste" award goes to Symantec for the following banner pushing their products - "Protect your PC Against the Conficker Worm with award-winning Norton products".

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987. @oricchio