From the NYTimes:
A new digital plague has hit the Internet, infecting millions of personal and business computers in what seems to be the first step of a multistage attack. The world’s leading computer security experts do not yet know who programmed the infection, or what the next stage will be.
In recent weeks a worm, a malicious software program, has swept through corporate, educational and public computer networks around the world. Known as Conficker or Downadup, it is spread by a recently discovered Microsoft Windows vulnerability, by guessing network passwords and by hand-carried consumer gadgets like USB keys.
Based on the details from the article, it sounds like Russia, but my first guess was China. It could easily be anyone of several countries, based on the level attention as measured by Google. The compromising of computers and stealing personal ID is at the AOL scriptkiddy-level. It is far easier to steal data by wardriving by corporate headquarters looking for an unsecured WiFi router, stealing a physical computer or hard drive, or dumpster-diving for backup tapes. This is something else, especially given the proximity of release relative to the election.
