Around five to six million computers are currently believed to be infected by Kido (aka Conficker, Downadup), one of the most notorious malicious software programs to hit the Internet recently, according to security company Kaspersky Lab.

In a videoconference dubbed, “Presenting the truth about malware speculation,” Kaspersky Lab said the huge botnet formed by computers infected by Kido potentially provides cybercriminals with the means to conduct devastating DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks on any Internet resource, to steal confidential data from  both  home users and corporate networks and to distribute unsolicited content (e.g. mass spam mailings).

Vitaly Kamluk, director of Kaspersky Lab’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT), said there are 126,594 PCs in the Philippines infected by the Conficker virus as of March 2009. Kaspersky Lab’s data showed the Philippines ranked 19th globally among countries with the most Conficker infections topped by China with 2,649,674, Brazil with 1,017,825 and Russia 835,970. In the South East Asian region, the Philippines trailed fourth following Malaysia 212,477, Thailand 165,080 and Indonesia 164,794.

Citing figures from research firm Consumer Economics, Kaspersky Lab says the annual global financial damages from malware attacks on businesses exceeded US$ 13 billion in 2007.

The videoconference was participated by six countries across South-East Asia, namely, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

“There is no definite amount on how much damage the Conficker virus has made on businesses so far because it continues to spread at a phenomenal rate and cybercriminals have become more sophisticated in creating difficult to detect malwares such as Conficker to steal important data from our devices, ” said Suk Ling Gun, managing director of Kaspersky Lab South-East Asia.

“As a preventive measure against future malware attacks such as Conficker, Kaspersky Lab advises PC owners and IT managers of companies to treat this issue seriously and not remain complacent — Internet users need to constantly educate themselves and update their security software,” said Gun.