Computer experts are scrambling to stop a virus that’s already infected millions of computers worldwide.

It’s called the Conficker Worm, and experts warn it will wreak havoc on April Fool’s Day.

Hello I’m Charlotte Bellis and you’re watching Newsy.com. That was video from CBS.

For some computer analysts, April 1st is “Dooms Day” as they anticipate a strike from the worm.

ABC News Australia talks to an analyst who offers this possibility:

“Use that computer in a mode of what we call a denial of server attack, where that computer, upon receiving an instruction, will attempt to flood a website to knock it offline. Then of course people can blackmail the operators of the sites and say, yanno unless you give us 10-thousand dollars, we’re gonna keep your site down. That’s what’s gonna happen.” (ABC News Australia)

Let’s go to CNN for an explanation of where Conficker is going to hit hardest:

“Less than 2 percent of all computers affected are in the United States according to Symantec. Mostly Russia, China, Argentina, and Brazil. Partly because they’re using pirated versions of Microsoft Windows. That’s what people suspect. Those don’t update as well, they’re not as protected.” (CNN)

FOX News offers ways PC users can figure out if their computers have been infected:

“You can go to FOX News-dot-com, and we’ll have that up for you. Also we want to let you know you can go to Microsoft-dot-com, Symantec-dot-com and McAfee-dot-com, and if your comp cannot connect to those websites, that means most likely your computer could have it, so you need to contact your server.” (FOX News)

Let’s go back to CNN for an analyst who says the Conficker worm is overblown:

“It’s something like 8 or 9 million people which sounds like a big number until you recognize that a billion and a half people on the Internet.  So it’s not like it’s sweeping the Internet.  This is not something that’s everywhere and is going to attack everybody.  It really has to do with how well you’ve kept your machine updated.” (CNN)

Microsoft is offering a quarter of a million US dollars to anyone who can stop the Conficker worm.

What kind of impact, if any, do you think the Conficker worm will have? How do you protect your computer from viruses?