Update on Conficker C virus and April 1

UPDATE: Thanks to Lon Levy for this article: April Fool's Conficker Threat is Likely Hype. It's true, but just not as dire as reporters would like us to believe. Remember- panic sells papers. Or ads, or electrons, or whatever.

===========
I have received more questions today about the Conficker C virus thanks to a "60 Minutes" piece last night. Unfortunately, the report was more alarmist than informative.

Here are a couple facts:

• It affects only Windows computers.
  
• It probably won't activate on April 1, because everybody is expecting it.
  
• An infected computer is already receiving instructions from the P2P botnet, so it probably won't drastically change on April 1.
  
• There is now a way to detect infected computers. 

Read more at http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=3043&tag=nl.e539

The practical steps you can take:

1. If you must use Windows, make sure you have automatic updates turned on, and that they are installed. 
2. Use virus protection and make sure it's up-to-date.
3. Turn off your computer when you aren't using it. If it's not on, it can't be infected. Or infect others.  Plus, it will save electricity.