Virus threatens internet blackoout
(Najamuddin Ghanghro, Karachi (original from Larkana))
July 6, 2012, 10:24 am
Millions of internet users around the world could be taken offline on Monday by
a virus that has sat undetected on their computer for more than a year.
Warnings have been widely circulated through Facebook and Google.
The FBI has set up a website but says that 277,000 computers worldwide could
still be infected.
People whose computers are still infected by Monday will lose their ability to
go online and will have to call their service providers for help to delete the
malware and reconnect.
The problem began when international 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 turned off the malicious servers being used to control the
computers, all the victims would lose their internet service.
The FBI set up a temporary internet system to get around the problem, but that
will be shut on Monday.
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.
FBI agent Tom Grasso said many internet providers have plans to try to help
their customers.
If the internet providers correct the server problem, the internet will work,
but the malware will remain on victims' computers and could pose future
problems.
Facebook and Google created their own warning messages that determined if a
computer was infected.
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: https://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