Monday July 9th may be an unpleasant day for one of the estimated 64,000 Americans who may be blacked out from internet due to a malicious computer virus.
A malware called DNS Changer, are known to be infecting 300,000 computers worldwide. Due to the FBI shutting down its temporary Domain Name System servers, victims of the malware will be unwired from the internet.
"They can do a lot of damage," said Geek Beat Live co-host John Pozadzides. "They can present you to a fake Bank of America where you log in, and once you log in, they've got your log in details and can immediately go and empty your bank account," added Pozadzides.
The DNS Changer malware was created in 2007 when a group of hackers plotted to redirect internet traffic towards websites to generate clicks and revenue from advertisers. In November 2011, the FBI launched Operation Ghost Click which lead to the arrest of East European hackers who tricked unsuspecting users to revealing private data on fake websites. Users who falling for the trap was directed to a fake website where they are asked to input personal information. Once on the site, hackers then have full access to all information inputted.
The scheme proved quite successful as a total of 4 million computers were infected with $14 million stolen in the scam.
The FBI allowed the DNS servers to continue since the infected computers would cut off from Internet if the hackers' servers were shut down. The computers were place on new separate servers but on July 9th those will be shut down. Originally the date for shut down was March 8th, but has been changed to July 9th.
The FBI has advised that computer owners check for malware by using the DNS Changer Working Group to perform a scan at the DNS website (www.dns-ok.us). Users can instantly detect if their computers are infected by the malware if the background color appears red. If the screen appears green, it means the computer is safe. If cleanup is needed it is advised that users contact their Internet Service Provider. Major websites and ISP companies are reaching out to their customers with the precaution.
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