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BitDefender finds Conficker worm fading from view in 2011 malware landscape

January study sees key changes in prominence of major threats.

BitDefender reports that occurrences of the Conficker worm dropped significantly in January.

BitDefender’s global Top Ten threat report shows that Win32.Worm.Downadup.Gen, as Conficker is known, has dropped from first to third. Most notably, the threat is completely absent from the regional Top Ten for the UK.

Catalin Cosoi, head of online threat labs at BitDefender remarked: “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.

“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 to install a backdoor service that allows remote access to the infected system.

Its emergence on the 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.

Anyone still concerned about Conficker can download BitDefender’s free removal tool: http://www.bitdefender.com/NW996-world--BitDefender-offers-a-free-tool-that-completely-removes-the-Conficker-Downadup-worm-from-home-and-business-networks.html

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