So far, no surprises as Conficker switches to new system

In a way, you might say that this is where the real trouble with Conficker starts: As of 4am EDT -- or 10:30pm in the Marquesas Islands, where the day begins -- the malware appears to be doing exactly as predicted, switching to its powerful newer algorithm. As experts also predicted, no serious amount of amok has been run and the Net has not experienced a massive meltdown.

Today, anyway. As we wade through the much-anticipated April 1 update, it's almost certain that the real damage comes later. Smooth sailing today beats mayhem, of course, but whatever Conficker's botnet is designed to do, it's apt to do it in the days and weeks to come -- well after flightier members of the public (and their media outlets) will have concluded that Conficker's danger passed on April 1. They'll assume that they're safe... and they're apt to regard malware and its ilk as a less serious, pervasive, and insidious problem than computer professionals understand it to be.