Conficker is one of the nastiest worms to hit the internet, and it has finally “woken up”, so to speak. The Conficker is loading updates on infected computers in order to try and steal passwords and personal information from infected machines.

Here is a VERY easy test to see if your computer is infected with Conficker or not: go to http://www.talkbiz.com/confickertest/ . Load the page and see if all six images appear. If so, you’re most likely in the clear. Yet if some pictures don’t show up, no matter how many times you refresh the page or right click to “show image”, you may be in trouble.

If after this test you suspect you may be infected, immediately disconnect from the internet. Find another computer that isn’t infected (maybe one at a friends house, a library, etc.) and get a copy of Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool at http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/

Run the Malificous Software Removal Tool on the infected computer, and only after the results come up clear can you reconnect to the internet.

Special thanks to Paul Myers at www.talkbiz.com for such an easy Conficker test!

Update: Everything is completely fixed and safe now, and Google has since reindexed the site back to normal status. Thank you for being patient. Enjoy the helpful advice found in this blog!

Even though we completely removed the virus from www.micronichetool.com within minutes of it happening, Google is still reporting www.micronichetool.com as a potentually hazardous site. 

Plus, Google also reported the site to StopBadware.org which maintains a database of potentually hazardous sites.   This database is made available to virus protection software and if you are using a virus protection software that subscribes to this service the domain www.micronichetool.com will be blocked.   It is being blocked not because there is anything hazardous but simply because it is in the database at StopBadware.org 

Because of this additional issue we have set up an alternate site for Micro Niche Finder at www.micronichefinder.com.  All the old links will still work just substitute finder for tool in any url you are trying to access.

James