So far, the bad guys who created it haven't triggered Conficker. It's just sitting out there like a sleeper cell.
"Imagine a network of spies that has infiltrated a country. And every day, all of the spies are calling in for their instructions on what to do next," Trilling explained.
Asked what the worm is being asked to do, Trilling told Stahl, "That's the interesting thing. The only thing the worm is being asked to do is to ask for further instructions."
For several months, Trilling says the worm has just been sitting there, awaiting instructions,
It's that ominous, because once the hackers issue instructions, Conficker could turn menacing in an instant.
With one click, the worm's creator can instruct it to suck sensitive data, like bank passwords and account numbers, out of millions of computers, or launch a massive spam attack to clog up the works.
Two 60 Minutes clips on this after the jump. More on Conficker here.
I wouldn't be totally surprised if the Conficker worm turned out to be an "April Fool's Joke," but of course doing nothing still isn't worth the risk
Posted by: coffee maker | March 31, 2009 at 06:06 PM
Say it ain't so, Joe. I remember seeing this guy talking about the Internet on Charlie Rose months ago. It was way above my head then so I came away relatively unscathed. Now I understand the words coming out of the bad man's mouth and I've decided I liked it better the other way.
Posted by: TellyPhile | March 31, 2009 at 08:04 PM