After last year’s announcement made by Microsoft, which stated that a vulnerability in its Server service could be exploited by a worm, more than 9 million computers ended up infected. The worm is known as Conficker/Downandup and Microsoft is offering a $250,000 reward for information that will lead to the arrest of the people responsible.

Symantec mentioned that there have been reported more than 500,000 infections per day with W32.Downadup.A and also more than 1.7 million infections per day with W32.Downadup.B over the past five days.

Looking to resolve the issue as soon as possible, Microsoft teamed up with several technology companies, Internet infrastructure companies and academic organizations. The list of partners includes ICANN, VeriSign, Afilias, Global Domains International, M1D Global, AOL, Symantec, Neustar, CNNIC, Public Internet Registry, F-Secure, ISC, and also researchers from Support Intelligence, Shadowserver Foundation, Georgia Tech and the Arbor Networks.

"The best way to defeat potential botnets like Conficker/Downadup is by the security and domain name system communities working together," explained Greg Rattray, ICANN's chief Internet security adviser, in a statement. He also added that "ICANN represents a community that's all about coordinating those kinds of efforts to keep the Internet globally secure and stable."

The incident managed to bring together the entire security community, and at this point several tactics are being planned in order to cover as many areas as possible and find a rapid solution. The matter is unlikely to be resolved any time soon, as there are many aspects that demand attention.