This is real and I hate these people who make these things... for now, all I can do is provide some information to all my friends:
Conficker Worm Set to Spring to Life
By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP
SAN FRANCISCO (March 30) - The fast-moving Conficker computer worm, a scourge of the Internet that has infected at least 3 million PCs, is set to spring to life in a new way on Wednesday — April Fools' Day.
That's when many of the poisoned machines will get more aggressive about "phoning home" to the worm's creators over the Internet. When that happens, the bad guys behind the worm will be able to trigger the program to send spam, spread more infections, clog networks with traffic, or try and bring down Web sites...continue on AOL (http://news.aol.com/article/conficker-worm-virus-april-1/402022?icid=main%7Cmain%7Cdl1%7Clink3%7Chttp%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fconficker-worm-virus-april-1%2F402022)
Check to make sure you can still get to your virus company web site - McAfee, Trend Micro, Symantec, etc. If you can't, you will need some help from someone who knows about these things. If you are not keeping your updates and virus software up-to-date on your computer... well, you've probably got more problems than just this one...
Being a Network Admin within the Military/DoD I can tell you this is definately not a hoax. Nothing April Fools about this. We've been standing on our heads reacting to this thing. There is speculation that the April 1 date could be a sordid joke just for the sake of April fools. However, the Conficker virus is real and it is not new. It has been around for months and doing lots of damage. For anyone who is familiar with viruses/worms (computer worms, not plastic) they are saying this is multiple times worse than the SQL Slammer from years ago. And I can tell you I've gotten that straight from the top.
This thing has penetrated a lot of networks. It's just plain nasty. The good news is that the signatures for this worm have been out for quite a while and if you have AntiVirus software with up to date signatures you should be good.
{From the soap box} If you own a computer and do not have AntiVirus software you are a baby giving candy to a stranger. You need a good AntiVirus software. Not all are created equal and it's worth purchasing licensed software such as McAfee or Symantec and keeping it updated daily. I would not trust my computer security to free/trial software. Happily I get mine for free through Symantec since I'm a government employee, but I'd gladly pay for it if I had to. {/soap box off}
To recap - Conficker has been out for a while. As with any virus/trojan/worm you may be infected and not even know it. This is by design. Get the software, scan your computer.
B
Here is some info...The Symantec link lays it out pretty good...
http://www.symantec.com/norton/theme.jsp?themeid=conficker_worm&inid=us_ghp_link_conficker_worm (http://www.symantec.com/norton/theme.jsp?themeid=conficker_worm&inid=us_ghp_link_conficker_worm)
Here's a solution...
How to update your PC and remove Conficker
The following steps should prevent infection by Conficker and eliminate the worm, if your PC has it. One positive side effect is that you'll enjoy a computer with up-to-date patches:
Step 1. Attempt to run Microsoft Update from your Start Menu. The Conficker worm can infect vulnerable computers merely by connecting to them remotely via the Internet. For this reason, you should first try to patch Windows before removing Conficker, lest your machine quickly become infected again. It's particularly important to install Microsoft patch 958644 (security bulletin MS08-067). This patch closes a hole in Windows' Remote Procedure Call, which Conficker exploits.
If you can't find Microsoft Update (or the more limited Windows Update) on your PC's Start menu, visit the Microsoft Update page on the Web. Internet Explorer is required. NOTE: Microsoft Update on my machine is located at the top of the "All Programs" listing in the Start menu.
Blows my mind that lowlifes out there take advantage of people's lack of knowledge of computers and the Internet to use their own computer against other persons, businesses and governments. Causes a lot of of 'why is my computer so slow' questions.
It's unfortunate and a hassle, but a necessity nonetheless for everyone to be responsible and persistent in this area. The losers that create all this junk are persistent and determined.