Computer Virus No Joke On April Fools' Day

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - April Fools' Day has brought serious concern that millions of computers could be hit by a virus called Conficker.

Conficker, a virus that has been around since 2008, was supposed to receive new instructions from its master hacker on April 1, 2009.

Conficker has confounded computer experts for months. Fortunately the only thing the worm has been doing is asking for further instructions, but it can hijack computers even without users noticing.

The threat has been serious enough that Microsoft has even offered a quarter million dollar reward for anyone who can stop the virus.

The hacker who created the worm could be able to steal personal information like bank account and social security numbers, but experts don't seem to think this virus is specifically aimed at individuals.

"These worms are targeted at big corporate networks and for the average home user like you and me it might not be that big of a deal," said Molly Wood with CNET.

Among other things, the worm blocks PCs from accessing the antivirus vendors' and Microsoft's Web sites. That keeps its PC victims from getting updates about the worm and downloading removal tools, so there's only one sure fire way to know if Conficker has attacked your computer.

Go to the Web site of an anti-virus software company like www.Symantec.com or www.Microsoft.com. If you get in then you're probably fine.

If your computer has already been infected, have a friend whose computer is not infected download a removal tool and e-mail it to you.

For more information about the computer virus and ways to protect your computer click here.