FBI: Don't Lose Your Internet Access Monday

Be forewarned: If you still have pesky trojan malware on your computer on Monday, July 9, say goodbye to your Internet access, the FBI warns. Both Windows and Mac users aren’t immune to the virus, but Linux, smartphone and tablet users are safe, Forbes reports.

The specific trojan malware, or "malicious software," is known as “DNS Changer,” which was discovered in 2007 and infected millions of computers globally.

Visit the DNS Changer Working Group’s website to see if your computer is infected and to find out how to remove the malware.

So how did the DNS Changer manage to infect millions of computers?

Here's how. Every time you search the Internet, you trigger the Domain Name System, which turns a domain name such as patch.com into an Internet Protocol (IP) address so other computers can identify you on the network, basically the equivalent of your computer’s GPS for the Internet.

The malware DNS servers would change your search to give fake answers and promote fake and dangerous products, according to the DNS Changer Working Group, the organization created to monitor the malware and help infected users.

"The risk depends on what malware is intended to do," said Arthur Anderson of Rye IT consulting service .

Depending on the way it is coded, Anderson explained, malware can disrupt Internet service or even access data stored on your computer. That may include information about your identity, passwords and other information.

The FBI worked with Estonian police to seize the servers that contained the spamming malware, but didn’t shut them down so the infected computers could still run, Forbes reported.

The FBI, however, has decided to stop running these servers to spare costs, meaning everyone with the malware will not be able to access the Internet.

A Huffington Post report citing FBI data estimates as many as 277,000 computers infected worldwide and about 64,000  in the United States.

What To Do

• The FBI has set up a website with instructions and safe links to check your computer for the malware at http://www.dcwg.org.
• The FBI site shuts down just after midnight Sunday at 12:01 a.m. EDT, so don't wait!
• If your cable company is your ISP, check their sites for instructions.  Click here for links to the pages Verizon and Cablevision have set up for their customers 
• If the virus hits your computer, you will have to manually reset your local DNS settings then make sure your computer is clean at http://www.dns-ok.us

Experts predict malware attack on personal computers, portable devices and laptops, even smartphones will increase by the end of the year. Antivirus software developer Trend Micro estimates more than a dozen malicious apps were downloaded over 700,000 times from Google's popular mobile app market before they were removed.

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