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Atiba Software LLC

Custom Software, Web Development, Hosting/Networks, Consulting

1720 West End Ave. Suite 300
Nashville, TN 37203
Phone: 615.353.1921
Fax: 615.296.4040

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Recent Atiba News

Atiba's response to the Conficker worm

You no doubt have heard on the news recently about an Internet-based threat known as "Conficker." The threat is perhaps huge if you do nothing about it, but the things required...

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Atiba's response to the Conficker worm

You no doubt have heard on the news recently about an Internet-based threat known as "Conficker." The threat is perhaps huge if you do nothing about it, but the things required to make your computer as safe as possible are relatively easy. We would like to provide a clear set of instructions on how to better protect against any threat from this attack.

Conficker is a computer worm that surfaced in October 2008 and targets Windows operating systems. The worm exploits a patched vulnerability in Windows. The latest reports indicate that the threat may increase on "April Fool's Day" Wednesday April 1, 2009. More information on the specifics of the Conficker worm is located HERE.

OK, so what do we do about it? This is pretty simple so let's take it step by step.

Prevention

First, go HERE and apply Microsoft's MS08-067 patch. You will have to look through the list of Operating Systems and pick yours. To find out which version you have, right click "My Computer" and click on "Properties." You will see which version you currently have on your computer. Back at the download screen, click on your version and then click the "Download" button. This fixes the main threat, so it's the first thing that you MUST do. Do this, and you are just about done.

Next, make sure that your workstation has all of the latest Microsoft updates applied. It can take a while to get done, but it's worth doing. Click HERE and do everything that they ask you to do. Choose the "Express" update each time and keep going back to this link until it says that there are no more updates to apply.

Now make sure that your antivirus updates are current. If you do not have antivirus installed (shame on you!), get a free one. We recommend the free Avast home edition. Do it NOW and keep it up to date!

Elimination

For one more step, you can click HERE to download and run the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. Not required but if you have time it could be FUN! Seriously, if you want to be REALY sure that you are not infected, do this.

Good Policy: Change your passwords regularly

Finally, change your passwords and make them hard to guess. Always use a mix of upper and lower case characters, numbers, and punctuation marks. That makes it really hard to crack. You should do this for all of your passwords every now and then.

If you take the short time that it takes to do these things, you will be about as safe as you can be.

More about Atiba

Atiba has been developing custom software applications since 1993 for clients both big and small. In just the past ten years, we have developed over 300 web sites, large intranet sites and web based applications. Atiba offers a one-stop-shop allowing companies of all sizes to have a single reliable source for custom software development, programming, website design, computer consulting, hosting, network services, and strategic IT planning. Atiba's objective is to provide a one stop shop for computer expertise. Contact us today to tell us about your project and to receive references and more samples of our work.