病毒今日爆發 愚人還是害人

　　一種名為Conficker的蠕蟲病毒有可能在4月1日“愚人節”當天大規模傳播。自去年秋天以來，這種病毒已經感染了全世界超過1500萬臺電腦。據稱，該蠕蟲病毒編寫者在現有的Conficker病毒腳本中表明，將于2009年4月1日將該病毒升級。屆時，感染病毒的計算機訪問網絡的速度將大大降低，并且防病毒類網站將會自動關閉。將病毒升級的消息作為愚人節的“騙局”，還是真的會編寫病毒變種并在今天將其進行大規模傳播？病毒編寫者的真正意圖到底沒人能猜透。不過，網絡安全機構還是提醒廣大用戶及時更新防病毒軟件，防患于未然。

　　A virus that experts believe has wormed its way into millions of computers could choose today to attack.

　　The Conficker virus, which is thought to have infected up to 15million computers since last autumn, has so far lurked harmlessly - but it is said to be programmed to change the way it operates today.

　　No one knows what it will do - with some suspecting it is simply an April Fool's joke.

　　But there are fears the virus, which infects machines through the internet and via memory sticks, will be used to steal bank details, send spam emails or crash a major website by overloading it by redirecting all affected computers to it.

　　Conficker, which is also known as Downadup or Kido, is a 'worm' virus that exploits a gap in Microsoft Windows software.

　　Parliament, the Ministry of Defence and several NHS trusts have been infected, as well as home computers.

　　Experts are sceptical about whether today is the day the worm will turn, but urge the public to ensure their anti-virus software is up to date.

　　Security patches can be downloaded from Microsoft, which has offered a $175,000 reward to find the culprits.

　　One sign of already being infected is being blocked from visiting the websites of anti-virus companies such as McAfee.

　　Graham Cluley, of internet security company Sophos, advises people to rid their machines of the worm as soon as they can.

　　He said: 'There is no reason to believe that there will be any instructions for Conficker to receive on 1 April,' he said. 'They could just as easily be delivered on 2 April, 4 April, 25 May or never.

　　'This network is large and the whole world is going to be watching everything it does.

　　'You could argue it is a victim of its own success because it is going to be difficult for it to do anything under the radar.'

　　Mikko Hypponen, of antivirus software firm F-Secure, said: 'It is scary thinking about how much control a hacker could have. They would have access to millions of machines.'