Today, July 9th at 2PM EST, the FBI will shut down the temporary DNS servers it put in place to keep computers infected with the ‘DNSChanger’ trojan connected to the internet. Even if you have anti-virus software installed, your PC or Mac may be infected. You can check this by by visiting www.dns-ok.gov.au but after 2PM, the FBI will switch off the DNS servers it put in place when it foiled the scam back in November 2011.
At the time, the FBI arrested the six Estonians behind it, and surprisingly, instead of switching off the rouge DNS servers used by the scam, the FBI installed two ‘clean’ servers to keep the estimated 4 million infected computers world-wide connected to the internet. Today marks ‘Internet Doomsday’, where the FBI will shut off its temporary servers, potentially leaving any computer still infected with the virus unable to reach the web.
If your computer is infected, the DNS Changer Working Group has set up a website with advice about how to remove the virus at www.dcwg.org. Depending on the severity of infection, fixes range from running anti-virus software to completely erasing and reinstalling your computer’s operating system. It’s estimated that about 6,000 computes in Australia still have the bug.
