As I read about the Conficker worm getting active again, I was virtually forced to put down the thoughts I had at the time around 4/1 when it was supposed to create havoc.

I started thinking, this is a fabulous marketing ploy from the security companies to boost their sales. Think about it, it had the perfect story - a security threat, there was time to react (buy security software), there was widespread media attention (awareness = more purchases) and of course the most brilliant part about it was that if on 4/1 nothing happens, the security companies could declare victory!

And that’s exactly what happened. Press releases went out from the security companies about how good their software was to stop Conficker. Of course, the other outcome was that if on 4/1 the worm hit, the security companies could easily spin it as not enough computers being protected. Quite convenient, right?

Did anyone else notice that 4/1 was just before quarter-end? It could not have been a better-timed situation!

And now today, we are back at it again. It may not be quarter-end, but the dormant worm story is perfect for security companies and the news is that the worm has gotten some new updates via P2P and that it is going to start downloading some keyloggers and such. Grreeeat.