Google Alert Claims Users' Internet May Shut Down July 9

snoopy · May 28, 2012

Google alert claims users' Internet may shut down July 9

If you have been browsing the Web lately and have used Google's search services, you may find the search results page show a warning at the top that states "Your computer appears to be infected" along with a small description about systems not being able to connect to the Internet in the future. The message also includes a link to an information page that generally describes what malware is and how to detect it. This alert has had a few people concerned about their abilities to stay online.

As CNET's Declan McCullagh reported yesterday, this message from Google is an effort to help people who were infected with a widespread malware infection called "DNSChanger."

The DNSChanger malware is a Trojan horse infection that at its peak affected approximately 4 million PC systems worldwide, with about 500,000 of those being in the United States. When installed, the malware changes the system's DNS server settings to point to a rogue DNS network set up by the malware developers. The number of DNSChanger-infected systems was at around 450,000 worldwide at the end of January, but remains at around 330,000 today.

The DNS network is essentially the phone book for the Internet, and allows the system to convert URL names such as "www.cnet.com" to the IP address for the Web site (a number that the computer and network devices can use). The effort behind the DNSChanger malware was to interfere with this IP address lookup routine and provide a false IP number to the computer. As a result, if you typed in the URL of a legitimate Web site, then the malware developers could redirect you to a fake Web site that tries to phish information from you, have you click on ads for revenue, or otherwise perform unwanted behavior.
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