There is a bit of press about a virus-worm called “Conficker”. This is actually an old worm that started infecting systems late last year by exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. Since then there have been variants of this worm and lots of programs carry this malicious payload. Conficker.C is the latest variant; it will change the behavior of its “call-home protocol” tomorrow Wednesday, April 1st. Conficker may use this protocol to update itself to include some as-yet unknown functionality. Microsoft has also issued a security update to patch the vulnerability that the Conficker family has used to propagate.
You may want to check that your PC has the latest Microsoft security updates installed. You can do this by running Windows Update on your computer. This is a worm and it does not need you to open email or attachments or anything, and it can hit your computer if it is vulnerable. So it is very important that you have this patch.
The following information will give you an overview of the worm, the steps one can take to clean an infected system, and measures to prevent reinfection.
http://www.mcafee.com/us/threat_center/conficker.html
http://www.symantec.com/norton/theme.jsp?themeid=conficker_worm&inid=us_ghp_link_conficker_worm
A quick way to see if you have the worm. Try and go to http://www.mcafee.com. If you cannot access Mcafee, you may have the worm, as it blocks access to security vendors.
Orange County Convention CenterThe Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) is one of the nicest conference facilities in the US. The center is well kept and the staff and their partners are the best. We have enjoyed our visit and can not wait to come back.
ACC Central @ ACC09
Saturday is here and we enter “Maytag Mode”. We say that because we have been here for 8 days and setup 8 networks in 92 locations. Everything is working and now we start a new phase of monitoring the various networks and providing technical support. Luckily the NOC team has been doing this for a number of years and we have great partners.
If everything goes well, we will have little to do the next few days. Hence the moniker “Maytag Mode”. Just like the TV commercials for Maytag appliances. It is not boring, but the days are long. In at 6:45AM and out after 6PM. That is if there is nothing major going on. If something comes up, we stay until its working and working right.
We occupying most of our time rotating staff through all the locations throughout the network and checking on our customers and projects. When your show is only 3.5 days long, you can not wait for the call. So we hit the beat and walk a lot. It is also good for our customers as they are out of their normal element and appreciate it when we check on them throughout the day.
New this year is the use of digital signs @ ACC09.
Replacing paper signs, digital signs provide information on each individual education room and allows us to stream live video for just in time situations.
Check out this sample in front of our ACC09 and i2 Faculty Lounge. It displays information on the room and it is real time. As the meeting goes on, it is automatically updated and the education team can tweak on the fly.
Room overflow information can be displayed. When a room is overloaded or sold out, attendees can be directed to another location where they can view the meeting.
Security | Ts-admin March 31, 2009 | 
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