Four months after it modified Windows 7 to stop the Conficker worm from spreading through infected flash drives, Microsoft has ported the changes to older operating systems, including Windows XP and Vista, the company announced on Friday.
In April, Microsoft altered AutoRun and AutoPlay, a pair of technologies originally designed for CD-ROM content, to keep malware from silently installing on a victim's PC. The Conficker worm, which exploded onto the PC scene in January, snatching control of millions of machines, used several methods to jump from PC to PC, including USB flash drives.
Conficker copied a malicious "autorun.inf" file to any USB storage device that was connected to an already-infected machines, then spread to any other PC if the user connected the device to that second computer and picked the "Open folder to view files" option under "Install or run program" in the AutoPlay dialog.
More: http://computerworld.com/s/article/9138015/
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In April, Microsoft altered AutoRun and AutoPlay, a pair of technologies originally designed for CD-ROM content, to keep malware from silently installing on a victim's PC. The Conficker worm, which exploded onto the PC scene in January, snatching control of millions of machines, used several methods to jump from PC to PC, including USB flash drives.
Conficker copied a malicious "autorun.inf" file to any USB storage device that was connected to an already-infected machines, then spread to any other PC if the user connected the device to that second computer and picked the "Open folder to view files" option under "Install or run program" in the AutoPlay dialog.
More: http://computerworld.com/s/article/9138015/
