The expected April Fools variant of the Conficker worm reappearing is a technology scare possibly on par with planes falling out of the sky at the turn of the millennium. Will it infect me? Will the Internet break? Will it restart the Large Hadron Collider, create a black hole and suck us all into oblivion? Probably not. What will actually happen, if anything, is still unknown but the hype is sure to panic the estimated 10-12 million or so already infected computers around the world and ensure that security vendors make a tidy sum on last minute upgrades and product purchases and that IT departments will become the companies “new best friend” and be allowed to step up a gear to be prepared for this and other potential attack vectors.

Jokes aside, the worm is a clear and present danger even in its current guise – it grounded the entire French Air Force in it’s last outing and Microsoft have offered a $250,000 reward for information and capture of the worms originators.

I use Windows, should I worry? Most likely No. Only Users whose computers are not configured to receive patches and updates from Microsoft and who are not running an up to date antivirus product are most at risk. Users who do not have a genuine version of Windows from Microsoft are also at risk due to pirated system usually not getting Microsoft updates and patches.

Microsoft has provided a dedicated landing page on protecting yourself and Windows from Conficker.

Updated: Well….did it affect you? Were you “Confickered”?!