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DNSChanger Shut-Down Means Internet Blackout Coming For Hundreds of Thousands

Posted by timothy on from the are-you-on-the-list dept.

Since you're reading this here, you're probably already aware that in the early hours of Monday, lots of DNS calls are going to fail as the FBI turns off servers from which Windows machines infected with DNSChanger have been served. New submitter SuperCharlie adds a reminder of the impending shutdown, and adds: "The FBI has a step-by-step method for you to see if you are infected in this PDF document, or you can go to dcwg.org for an automated check if you are so inclined."

3 of 264 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why did this do it this way? by Riceballsan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    IMO not informing them of what happened is. Believe it or not disconecting people, does not solve the problem, they buy a new computer take it to geek squad who nukes and paves it and sells them a rediculously overpriced unreliable antivirus. What could help would be to redirect the DNS servers to an informational page on how to clean off the current infection (IE hosting some cleanup tools), with tips of how to avoid infection again. No it won't educate 100% of them, some will take it to geeksquad anyway, some will find the download button and not read anything etc... but SOME will, and some is always better than none.

  2. Re:Why don't they... by techno-vampire · · Score: 5, Interesting

    One of the easiest ways to infect computers is to put up a website with a phony virus scan and tell everybody that their system's infected, then offer to "clean" it for them. Most of us are trying to get our friends and family to understand that when a random website tells them that their computer's infected, it's a scam. What you're suggesting would just make our lives that much harder. Having all of their DNS fail, however, is going to make these people understand that there's something wrong, even if they don't have a clue about what's happening.

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  3. Re:Why did this do it this way? by Jiro · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You don't want to redirect them to a page which tells them how to get rid of a virus. Believing pages that tell them that their system has malware and they need to follow the instructions on the page to get rid of it, is one of the common means of *spreading* malware.