Conficker Worm Infection - What to do

The tenacious Conficker worm (with different aliases such as Conficker.b, W32.Downadup, Conflicker, and the latest Conficker.C) is set to activate itself on April 01, 2009. It might be an April Fools pranks but the threat it posed, seem to make computer users edgy. What happens come midnight is a mystery: Will it turn the millions of infected computers into spam-sending zombie robots? Or will it start capturing everything you type -- passwords, credit card numbers, etc. -- and send that information back to its masters?

UPDATES
* Apr 13, 2009 - Check out the Conficker Eye Chart, which can tell you if you’re computer is already infected.

Conficker's a nasty little worm that takes serious efforts to bypass your security defenses, but you aren't without some tools in your arsenal to protect yourself.

Instructions and guide on How to Remove Conficker Worm | W32.Downadup

As a final safety note, all users -- whether they're worried about an infection or know for sure they're clean -- are also wise to make a full data backup today.

What won't work? Turning your PC off tonight and back on on April 2 will not protect you from the worm. Temporarily disconnecting your computer from the web won't help if the malware is already on your machine -- it will simply activate once you connect again. Changing the date on your PC will likely have no helpful effect, either. And yes, Macs are immune this time out. Follow the above instructions to detect and remove the worm.

More resources on how to deal with Conficker and survive its attack:
* Symantec's Conficker (aka Downadup) removal tool,
* Trend Micro's Cleanup Engine removal tool for Conficker, or
* Remove Conficker worm with Malwarebytes.
* Computer Worms - Conficker| Microsoft Security

This April Fools virus threat is also hogging Google Hots Trends for Mar 31 with the following hot keywords occupying different spots in Google hot search:

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As you see from the above list, that is a lot of queries related to this conficker worm.