The super worm has stirred, updating itself by P2P to deliver a heavily-encrypted file to infected PCs.

It may have been an April 1 no-show, but Conficker is finally phoning home.

Antivirus software companies have begun to detect the worm updating itself via the rogue peer-to-peer (P2P) network or “bot-net” it has created for itself over the internet as it spreads, allowing it to “phone home” from infected PCs.

One security company, Trend Micro, says Conficker first stirred on Wednesday NZ time.

As predicted on NBR, rumours that Conficker would trigger on April 1 have proved just that.

A Symantec security response just issued says:

“Most regions have already woken up to April 1 and Symantec Security Response experts have not detected any additional activities"

The company says Conficker is due to use a new algorithm from today to detrmine which websites to contact, and that it will continue to monitor the situation.

A Vietnamese antivirus software maker fuelled an excitable CNet report that the Red Menace is behind the super-worm. Meanwhile, rumours persist of a Conficker apocalypse on April 1. Both are likely wrong.

CNet says BKIV, a respected Vietnamese antivirus software maker, is chasing Microsoft’s $US250,000 bounty for information that leads to the Conficker author's arrest.

The super-worm has made tens of millions of PCs vulnerable, yet so far delivered no payload to any. One “expert” warns that April 1 could be the date that the other boot drops. (Read also: Shock, horror: Chinese behind Conficker.)

Symantec warns a third variant of the Conficker virus is on the loose. It’s the nastiest strain yet, by dint of a new ability to disable security software, and block attempts to track where it phones home on the web.

In a tactical switch, Conficker's authors are sending the new strain to already-infected PCs, helping the worm burrow deeper and become more resistant to attempts to dig it out.

In a security update, Symantec’s Peter Coogan writes that the worm’s focus on holding-off antivius software is part of a new strategy overall:

The online auction site continues its to record strong revenue and profit growth as other divisions of the Australasian media giant falter. Rubbing salt into the wound, Fairfax NZ’s publishing operation was hit by the Conficker virus.

At a grim first-half briefing this morning, Trade Me emerged as a star. Revenue was up 22.1% to $NZ38 million, while ebitda was 17.2% ahead of the previously corresponding six-month period.

A $NZ45 million ($A38 million) earn-out to Sam Morgan and other original Trade Me investors was included in cash flow.