Microsoft offers up reward for Conficker author

Yesterday Microsoft put up a $250,000 (US) reward for information leading to the arrest of the Conficker Virus author.

The Conficker Virus has infected an estimated 12 million systems worldwide and continually updates itself by contacting a seemingly random string of fake domain names.

According to a statement by MS the Conficker is being viewed as a criminal attack, as such a monetary reward is being offered to help apprehend the people responsible.

For $250,000 someone might leak something.

Read more here at CNet.

Microsoft said it is offering the reward because the worm constitutes a "criminal attack" and offering compensation should hasten prosecution. Residents of any country are eligible for the reward and should contact their international law enforcement authorities, the company said in a statement.

Microsoft also announced that it has partnered with security companies, domain name providers, and others on a coordinated global response to the worm, also known as Downadup. Participating are: the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), VeriSign, NeuStar, CNNIC, Afilias, Public Internet Registry, Global Domains International, M1D Global, AOL, Symantec, F-Secure, ISC, Georgia Tech, the Shadowserver Foundation, Arbor Networks, and Support Intelligence.

The worm, which has been around since last year, spreads through a hole in Windows systems, exploiting a vulnerability that Microsoft patched in October.