The Conficker worm, which failed to impress for the most part when its latest variant was due, isn't done for. Researchers studying the worm's various iterations warn that the threat certainly is not over and claim that there will be another attack, following changes in its ability to infect machines.

With as little as three million and as many as twelve million infected machines, Conficker has the potential to cause a lot of havoc. It has failed to do such so far, but several security companies have warned that it has continued to update itself and the people behind the worm are seeking to expand it using its peer-to-peer function.

Good security practices will of course keep you safe. What the worm's authors are betting on is that many people do not keep their machines updated. What exactly they have in store for the millions of infected machines is anybody's guess. But even if it has failed to cause much of a stir now, there is potential for problems in the future.