X

Podcast: Conficker using P2P to spread payload

Security researchers at Trend Micro discover that the Conficker worm is updating itself but can't yet identify the payload

Headshot of Larry Magid
Headshot of Larry Magid
Larry Magid
Larry Magid is a technology journalist and an Internet safety advocate. He's been writing and speaking about Internet safety since he wrote Internet safety guide "Child Safety on the Information Highway" in 1994. He is co-director of ConnectSafely.org, founder of SafeKids.com and SafeTeens.com, and a board member of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Larry's technology analysis and commentary can be heard on CBS News and CBS affiliates, and read on CBSNews.com. He also writes a personal-tech column for the San Jose Mercury News. You can e-mail Larry.
Larry Magid

As CNET News has been reporting, researchers at Trend Micro have discovered that the Conficker worm, which did basically nothing on April 1, is now updating itself by using a peer-to-peer network between infected Windows PCs to pass on payload instructions.

Because the worm's instructions are encrypted, as of 7:20 p.m. PDT Wednesday night, researchers were still unable to determine the nature of the payload, according to Trend Micro education director David Perry.

Still , in this audio podcast, Perry had plenty of information about how the worm is finally passing on instructions to infected PCs.