300,000 People Will Lose Web Access by July: FBI

By Admin on April 27, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

If you use the Internet every day, and you probably do, be careful as you might lose Web access soon, the FBI reports. Over 300,000 people could find their computers without the Internet come July 9th.

While this might sound like something out of "The Matrix," the issue is quite real. Even worse is that it'll affect both Mac and Windows users (Linux, iOS and Android users should be in the clear).

But don't worry. You'll be able to fix this potential nightmare in just a few mouse clicks.

Though most of you are likely curious as to why this is happening, you probably want the solution first. Click here to get to the FBI's fix.

The problem goes back to 2007. A group of Estonian hackers had launched "DNSChanger," a program that infected millions of computers worldwide. The malware allowed the group to redirect Internet traffic to any Websites of their choosing. Their goal was to send millions of browsers to various online ads. The traffic would net the group millions of dollars in fees.

The program did this by commandeering and changing an operating system's Domain Name Server (hence DNSChanger). DNS essentially translates word URLs, like FindLaw.com, into numbers. Those numbers are what bring users to their selected Website.

Infected users couldn't tell the difference because they'd still get where they wanted, but with different ads.

Thankfully the six suspects were caught and their servers were seized. Unfortunately, federal authorities never shut them down.

The reason was due to the sheer number of computers infected. Shutting it down right away would've left all those infected without online access. Instead, they neutralized the ad traffic redirection and left the servers on until they figured out how to purge all infected computers.

The Website link given earlier is the agency's solution. The site directs users to free DNS cleaner sites that will detect and repair problem computers.

So if you don't want to lose Web access, check out the FBI's Website link above.

Related Resources:

Copied to clipboard