FYI...
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/15/malware_persistence/15 September 2009 - "Malware stays around on infected PCs far longer than previously thought, according to the latest research from Trend Micro...
Based on an analysis of around 100 million compromised IPs, Trend Micro concludes that many infected IPs are infected (or repeatedly infected) for
more than two years, with a median infection length of
300 days. Four in five compromised machines are infected for more than a month. A graph* from Trend Micro suggests that if systems aren't disinfected quickly then infection tends to linger around indefinitely,
possibly until the point users exchange compromised boxes for new machines. Trend's study also looked at the botnet landscape. Three strains of botnet agent - Koobface, Zeus/Zbot and Ilomo/Clampi - are causing the most damage in terms of identity theft... Trend's stats don't cover dormant infections by the Conficker worm.
Stats from the Anti-Conficker Working Group suggest the malware is still resident (on many machines)**..."
*
http://blog.trendmicro.com/the-internet-infestation-how-bad-is-it-really/Sep. 16, 2009
**
http://www.confickerworkinggroup.org/wiki/pmwiki.php/ANY/InfectionTrackingLast modified: September 18, 2009
Topic: Infected for YEARS...