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Web virus: 'Could your internet shut down? Yes it could'
Clean Media Correspondent
London, July 06 (CMC) DNS Changer was a virus run by an Estonian crime ring until authorities and the American FBI broke it up in November. At its peak it infected more than 500,000 PCs and Macs.
The virus, first used in 2007, hijacked users’ computers without their knowledge to generate fraudulent clicks on adverts. Although its only obvious effects were to slightly slow internet connections and to disable antivirus software, it also redirected computers to the fraudsters’ servers.
Turning that server off would have left users without any web access, so the FBI temporarily replaced it with a site to check whether visiting computers had the virus.
The Bureau has announced that on July 9 it will pull the plug, potentially leaving the 350,000 computers that are still infected, 20,000 of which are in the UK and 85,000 in America, without access
“The chances that you've got (the virus) and that you will lose your internet access on Monday are pretty slim but what this does demonstrate is that security is still a big issue on the web, it can have really serious consequences and fixing it can be a real issue,” said Mr Warman.
Web virus: 'Could your internet shut down? Yes it could'
Clean Media Correspondent
London, July 06 (CMC) DNS Changer was a virus run by an Estonian crime ring until authorities and the American FBI broke it up in November. At its peak it infected more than 500,000 PCs and Macs.
The virus, first used in 2007, hijacked users’ computers without their knowledge to generate fraudulent clicks on adverts. Although its only obvious effects were to slightly slow internet connections and to disable antivirus software, it also redirected computers to the fraudsters’ servers.
Turning that server off would have left users without any web access, so the FBI temporarily replaced it with a site to check whether visiting computers had the virus.
The Bureau has announced that on July 9 it will pull the plug, potentially leaving the 350,000 computers that are still infected, 20,000 of which are in the UK and 85,000 in America, without access
“The chances that you've got (the virus) and that you will lose your internet access on Monday are pretty slim but what this does demonstrate is that security is still a big issue on the web, it can have really serious consequences and fixing it can be a real issue,” said Mr Warman.
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