As the April 1 payload delivery date nears for W32.Downadup.C (aka Conficker) speculation continues on whether the payload will be one big April Fool’s joke, or the equivalent of a cyber Pearl Harbor. While we can’t predict the future with certainty, we can look at the motivations of past Downadup variants to postulate that the payload will likely be something between the two extremes.
According to the Security Response blog post, if the Downadup authors stick to their original intentions, the more likely scenario is that the authors will attempt to recoup on their investment via the installation of misleading applications or other pay-per-install applications such as adware. However, considering the amount of eyes now watching Downadup’s every move, we also can’t underestimate the chance that the authors may veer from their original motives.
For the full details, please refer to the Symantec blog post.
