Over 300,000 computers around the world may be infected with a trojan which will prevent them connecting to the internet this Monday, July 9th. Known as the DNS Changer Malware, this malicious software is designed to alter your computer’s DNS settings without you knowing, effectively stopping you from getting online. The infection can be stopped and fixed using simple anti-virus software.
DNS is the worldwide system used by computers connected to the internet to turn IP addresses (like 46.28.209.13) into web addresses (like http://en.softonic.com). The DNS Malware Changer maliciously changes your computer’s DNS settings so that all your your traffic runs through the malware creator’s own servers. This is dangerous as the criminals behind DNS Malware Changer would be able to hijack your searches, direct you to malicious websites and potentially promote dangerous or malicious products or services.
How do I check if I have the DNS Changer Malware?
The FBI and multiple internet service providers are collaborating with the DCWG.org website. DCWG lets you check if you have the malware installed, fix infected computers and protect computers from the malware.
To check if your DNS settings are infected, visit this website: http://www.dns-ok.us/ – you do not need to install any software to run this test. If the image shows up with a green background, you should be OK. If it’s red, you need to take action before Monday.
If you detect a problem, you should install a reliable computer security program to fix your computer. These are currently the 3 most popular Windows anti-virus programs on Softonic:
And this tool from Kaspersky is specifically designed to counteract malware of this sort:
If you want to stay protected from similar threats in future, I recommend you keep an anti-virus program installed on your computer, and make sure it stays up to date.
