Cisco is Helping protect you from the “Conficker Worm”

There are stories out warning people of the potential DOWNAD/Conficker Worm that could be unleashed on April Fools Day.  This “Conficker Worm” is supposedly designed to create a large botnet of infected PCs also known as zombie PCs which would be controlled by the worm’s creator to shut down sites or send spam, steal personal information or event sent users to malicious websites used for phising or downloading additional malware.  This worm is targeted to PC users running Microsoft operating systems.
Cisco is aware of this potential internet threat and can let people know that if they are using Linksys by Cisco Routers and have registered for the Home Network Defender, they should be protected from this worm.  However, there are a few extra steps that customers should take to ensuring they are protected:

1. Make sure you have updated your PCs with the latest Windows updates
2. If you have Home Network Defender powered by Trend Micro on Linksys by Cisco routers – make sure to enable all of the security settings.  With Home Network Defender, use all the included licenses of Trend Micro Antivirus+AntiSpyware for your PCs.  And ensure the software is up to date for your PCs.
3. Disable the “Drive Auto-run” feature to avoid infections coming from USB drives
4. Change default password on the router to something different and unique
5. If users feel they maybe infected – go here to check: http://safety.live.com

If users of select Linksys by Cisco routers do not have Home Network Defender, we encourage them to try a no risk, no cost trial available from the linksysbycisco.com website at: http://www.linksysbycisco.com/hnd

We believe that layering hardware security and software security like Routers and antivirus software will help provide stronger protection from internet perils on a daily basis.

Posted by Johanna Fry at 10:07AM PST

Johanna Fry

Ping this URL to post a trackback:
http://blogs.cisco.com/trackback/7179/oeSUU8zS/

Previous post:
Music for Rent?

Next post:
Visual Networking Still Hot Despite Economy

Recent posts:
November 2009 Archive