Even if you have antivirus software on your computer, you could still lose connection to your internet come Monday. Thankfully, the fix is simple and all it takes is one visit to a special website to see if you’re affected.
Several years, ago, the FBI took down a group of hackers spreading malware called “DNS Changer”. It changes a computer’s settings to redirect web traffic to spammy sites. Hackers made money when people clicked the links.
Since then the FBI had had a temporary fix in place to keep traffic away from the bad servers. But that ends on Monday, July 9th, 2012. They can’t keep the servers up and operating forever and the numbers are down from ½ a million people affected to 300,000 (70,000 in the U.S.).
If you are affected, you will get a “server not found” message and you won’t be able to find any websites when you try to access the internet. Your Facebook, Twitter and e-mail account will be affected.
The FBI has setup a website to help you determine if you’re infected. Visit http://dns-ok.us/ to check your computer. If it comes up red, you have an issue. If it comes up green, you’re good to go. If you’re infected, there will be instructions to change your DNS settings.
This is the time to check out your computer since on Monday, you will not be able to access the internet if you are infected.
Excerpts of this post taken from Rich DeMuro’s (tech reporter at Fox 5 San Diego) Facebook report.
Click to watch Rich DeMuro’s video report: Malware Internet Threat Could Strike Thousands Monday
