For months now, the FBI has been warning people that a blackout of their access to the Internet could be coming. The warnings about the Internet problem have been splashed across Facebook and Google, and Internet service providers have sent notices as well.
But tens of thousands of Americans may still lose their Internet service Monday unless they do a quick check of their computers for malware that could have taken over their machines more than a year ago.
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.
Users whose computers are still infected 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.
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. This link also provides resources for how to “disinfect” your computer should the malware be found on it. As the Blaze has reported before, the FBI has said fixing the problem will be much harder once your access to the Internet is cut off. You have until 12:01 a.m. (11:01 pm central time, Sunday) Monday, July 9.
Most victims don't even know their computers have been infected, although the malicious software probably has slowed their Web surfing and disabled their antivirus software, making their machines more vulnerable to other problems.
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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Online:
To check and clean computers: http://www.dcwg.org
Comcast Warning: http://forums.comcast.com/t5/Security-and-Anti-Virus/DNS-Changer-Bot-FAQ/td-p/1215341
Google: http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com/2012/05/notifying-users-affected-by-dnschanger.html
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-security/notifying-dnschanger-victims/10150833689760766
Source Articles Link:
YOU MIGHT LOSE YOUR INTERNET ON MONDAY
FBI COULD CUT YOUR INTERNET IN FOUR DAYS
YOU MIGHT LOSE YOUR INTERNET ON MONDAY
FBI COULD CUT YOUR INTERNET IN FOUR DAYS
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