How to ensure you have the necessary ‘Conficker’ protection installed on a Windows Vista or XP computer. Chances are good you already have it installed.
There has been a lot of talk about the Conficker virus that is due to trigger on 1 April.
In our view the hype about this worm is somewhat overstated. Many computers will have been patched last year via the Windows Update system. In other words this isn’t a new exploit that Microsoft has to rush to patch – Conficker takes advantage of a known security breach in Windows which the company has already fixed.
The only computers that are at risk are any that don’t have Windows Update set to install important updates automatically. As many Office Watch readers know, we have serious concerns about Microsoft Update which updates other Microsoft products like Office. However we do think it’s wise to let Windows Update run automatically for security updates.
Our problem is with some of the advice in the mainstream media. They parrot the line which tells you to apply Microsoft security updates “MS08-067” which doesn’t match up with any label you’ll find in Windows.
Here’s how to ensure you have the necessary ‘Conficker’ protection installed on a Windows Vista or XP computer. Chances are good you already have it installed so this is probably more for your peace of mind.
For the Vista and XP examples below we checked some computers at Office Watch comedy central which have Windows Update running. As you can see, they already had the necessary patch installed without any human intervention.
The key detail you’re looking for isn’t ‘MS08-067’ instead look for KB958644.
MS08-067 is the code for the overall security bulletin and that page has links to the patches.
The patch is required for Windows Vista, Windows XP and importantly Windows Server 2003, Server 2008 and Small Business Server (2003 and 2008 editions).
Windows Vista
Go to Control Panel | Programs and Features | Installed Updates. It may take a little time for the entire list to appear including all the Windows patches.
Scroll down the long list and look at the ‘KB’ references – the one you want to find it KB958644 .
The Windows Vista patch if you don’t have it installed.
Windows XP
Go to Control Panel | Programs and Features | Add or Remove Programs then check the ‘Show Updates’ box and wait for the long list of updates to appear. Scroll down to the list of updates under ‘Windows XP – Software Updates’:
Scroll down the long list and look at the ‘KB’ references – the one you want to find is KB958644 .
The Windows XP patch if you don’t have it installed.
Conflicker info
US-Cert has a specific web page on Conficker
Microsoft has a Conficker page which strangely doesn’t have links to the necessary patches.
Microsoft’s KB962007 has long details on how to protect against Conficker if applying the patch isn’t possible.
For a really detailed, technical analysis check out the SRI International report.
