July 9: Doomsday for your PC or Mac if it has this malware

A nasty piece of malware called DNSChanger will kick thousands of Mac and PC users off the Internet on Monday, and there’s a chance you could be one of them. 

The FBI is shutting down domains that have been affected by the DNSChanger malware, which has been circulating the web since as far back as 2007. The malware redirected Internet traffic to sites with paid advertisements where cybercriminals reaped profit from unsuspecting visitors.

The trojan’s creators — six Estonian nationals — shut down their services when they were caught and arrested about eight months ago.

Although the FBI has been urging consumers for months to check if their systems have been affected by DNSChanger, about 275,000 computers are still at risk of not having Internet access on Monday, July 9.

The good news is that it’s easy to see if your system has been infected and fix it if needed. The DNS Changer Working Group (DCWG) launched a check tool — if you click on the link and the box is green, your computer is clean (If the box is red, your Internet will be dead). 

Meanwhile, McAfee’sDNS Check tool not only checks if you have the malware but it takes the challenging part out of manually updating Internet settings to correct the issue. 

 

If you suspect you’re infected, go to the DNS Changer Check-Up website, which should let you know if your computer’s DNS is working properly. Should your machine test positive, an organization called the DNS Changer Working Group has a list of anti-virus tools for cleaning it up. The FBI has an even more comprehensive to-do list.

Has your computer been affected? Let us know in the comments.