- Hundreds of thousands of PCs still at risk worldwide
- Virus 'spoofs' popular websites in attempt to steal personal information
- Around 50 Fortune 500 companies still have virus in their machines
- FBI 'ring-fenced' the virus late last year - but protection ends on Monday
- Scroll down for advice on checking your PC
By Eddie Wrenn
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If you have a virus on your machine, there is a very real risk you will get kicked off the internet on Monday.
Web-users are being warned to ensure their computers are clear of the nasty 'Alureon/DNS Changer bot'.
This piece of software found its way onto hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide late last year. The software was designed to re-direct you away from trusted websites, towards spoof websites in a bid to steal financial and personal information.
When the attack was noticed, the FBI took the unusual step of setting up a 'safety-net', routing infected machines through their server to stop the 'spoof' attacks.
But these servers will be taken down on Monday, and when this happens, people still infected are likely to lose their internet connection without warning.
Internet shutdown: Software called Alureon/DNS Changer attempts to change the website you visit - and those infected may get cut off on Monday
The warnings about the problem have been splashed across Facebook and Google. Internet service providers have sent notices, and the FBI set up a special website.
Despite repeated alerts, the number of computers that probably are infected is more than 277,000 worldwide, down from about 360,000 in April. Of those still infected, the FBI believes that about 64,000 are in the United States.
WORRIED? FOLLOW THESE SIMPLE STEPS TO CHECK YOUR PC
If you are worried about this, and want to put your mind at ease, follow these steps:
1) Visit this FBI-approved site - http://www.dns-ok.us - and see if you get an 'all-clear' green background or an 'at risk' red background.
2) If you have a red background, visit http://www.dcwg.org/fix which lists free virus scanner and removal software.
Our personal recommendations from the free range are Microsoft Windows Defender and Avira.
For more information, visit here: http://www.dcwg.org/detect/
Users whose computers are still infected on Monday will lose their ability to go online, and they will have to call their service providers for help deleting the malware and reconnecting to the Internet.
The problem began when international hackers ran an online advertising scam to take control of more than 570,000 infected computers around the world.
When the FBI went in to take down the hackers late last year, agents realised that if they turned off the malicious servers being used to control the computers, all the victims would lose their Internet service.
In a highly unusual move, the FBI set up a safety net. They brought in a private company to install two clean Internet servers to take over for the malicious servers so that people would not suddenly lose their Internet.
But that temporary system will be shut down at 12:01 a.m. EDT (4.01am GMT) on Monday, July 9.
Most victims don't even know their computers have been infected, alth ough the malicious software probably has slowed their Web surfing and disabled their antivirus software, making their machines more vulnerable to other problems.
But popular social networking sites and Internet providers have got more involved, reaching out to computer users to warn of the problem.
If you wish to check if your computer is at risk, visit http://www.dns-ok.us (linked above) and hopefully you will see the 'all clear' sign
According to Tom Grasso, an FBI supervisory special agent, many Internet providers are ready for the problem and have plans to try to help their customers. Some, such as Comcast, already have reached out.
The company sent out notices and posted information on its website. Because the company can tell whether there is a problem with a customer's Internet server, Comcast sent an email, letter or Internet notice to customers whose computers appeared to be affected.
Grasso said other Internet providers may come up with technical solutions that they will put in place on Monday that will either correct the problem or provide information to customers when they call to say their Internet isn't working. If the Internet providers correct the server problem, the Internet will work, but the malware will remain on victims' computers and could pose future problems.
In addition to individual computer owners, about 50 Fortune 500 companies are still infected, Grasso s aid.
Both Facebook and Google created their own warning messages that showed up if someone using either site appeared to have an infected computer. Facebook users would get a message that says, "Your computer or network might be infected," along with a link that users can click for more information.
Google users got a similar message, displayed at the top of a Google search results page. It also provides information on correcting the problem.
To check whether a computer is infected, users can visit a website run by the group brought in by the FBI: http://www.dcwg.org.
The site includes links to respected commercial sites that will run a quick check on the computer, and it also lays out detailed instructions if users want to actually check the computer themselves.
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Gyn, Newport.... 15.53 SO funny!!!!!
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Switch to using Linux. - Ade, Hull Great Britain, 05/7/2012 16:24 ...................... And neer get any software that works. haha.
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Is this yet anotner scam just like the Y2K scam where everything was to crash and companies would have to get a certificate to say they were Y2K compliant. The parasitic computer consultants had a field day stealing off companies ignorance.
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Well, since my pc at the time survived the "millennium bug" I am sure it can ride this one out as well. :)
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That sites all ballsed up too anyway.
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Staying virus free can be cheaply done, and benefits everyone. Have only one Anti-virus package installed on your PC, and make it a good one if you're OK for the cost. THEN, use FREE online virus scanners. Eset have a great one. Even more importanty it does run actively on your PC while you are not using it as an online scan. It's important because you should NOT have two anti-virus packages installed on your PC at the same time. BitDefender have a free online scan also. They are both very good anti-virus. In conjunction with a good bought and installed anti-virus, with regular scanning, you can virtually gaurantee being virus free. Eset has an excellent reputation for detecting new undefined viruses. While AVG is used by many, I have seen it interfere with Eset, but that was a long time ago, so try it, if you use AVG. By the way I visited the test your PC for this virus, and I have a bright green background colour of the test screen above. (From the D NS changer check-up.) Good luck!
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Why in the name of sanity would you trust the FBI website? Getting your machine "scanned" will probably just added some form of Spyware to your computer. If you have an anti-virus, you're fine.
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God the arrogance of the Americans knows absolutely no limits, not content with the self delusion that they control the globe's resources, they now feel that they can just cut the internet off for whoever they want. Makes me sick.
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Switch to using Linux.
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I don't need to worry. a nice man from Microsoft phoned me all the way from India, For only £100 he kindly took control of my computer and erased every trace of that virus - and threw in cover for Y2K as well! (Whatever that is) but he told me it was real bad, and he defrocked my drive for free. The only problem is my computer no longer works - but he said that's normal until Monday when the virus goes away. I wish he'd told me that before I paid him for it though, as I'm cataloguing all our family photos and can't finish the job until then.
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