Technology

'Alureon' virus: FBI warn if you have it on PC, you WILL get kicked off internet on Monday

Mike Gallagher

Jul 6, 2012 - 01:14

Jul 6, 2012 - 01:24

0 1

'Alureon' virus: FBI warn if you have it on PC, you WILL get kicked off internet on Monday

If you have a virus on your machine, there is a very real risk you will get kicked off the inteet on Monday.

Web-users are being waed 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 inteet connection without waing.

The waings about the problem have been splashed across Facebook and Google. Inteet 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.

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 Inteet.

The problem began when inteational 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 tued off the malicious servers being used to control the computers, all the victims would lose their Inteet service.

In a highly unusual move, the FBI set up a safety net. They brought in a private company to install two clean Inteet servers to take over for the malicious servers so that people would not suddenly lose their Inteet.

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, although 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 Inteet providers have got more involved, reaching out to computer users to wa of the problem.

$\"If$

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 Inteet 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 Inteet server, Comcast sent an email, letter or Inteet notice to customers whose computers appeared to be affected.

Grasso said other Inteet 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 Inteet isn't working. If the Inteet providers correct the server problem, the Inteet 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 said.

Both Facebook and Google created their own waing 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.