A lot of internet users may lose their connection by Monday, July 9, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation flips their killswitch.

For months, the FBI maintained temporary clean DNS servers, so as not to disrupt the interwebs, giving ample time for users with infected computers to resolve the problem.  But they can’t do this forever, we as internet users, have a responsibility to make sure that the technology we are using is clean and won’t bring harm to others.

Operation Ghost Click

Domain Name System or DNS is a critical Internet service that converts user-friendly domain names, such as www.siliconangle.com, into numerical addresses that allow computers to communicate with one another. Without DNS and the DNS servers operated by Internet service providers, people would not be able to browse the internet, send or receive e-mails and other internet related activities.

In 2007, a cyber ring deployed a malware that changes the DNS setting of a computer that enabled thieves to manipulate the multi-billion-dollar Internet advertising industry.  It infected more than four million computers in over 100 countries.  Infected users were not aware of what was happening and that the presence of the DNSChanger on their computers rendered their machines vulnerable to other attacks.

In 2011, six Estonian nationals were arrested and charged for running the sophisticated Internet fraud ring that infected millions of computers worldwide.

DNSChanger

DNSChanger malware works by redirecting infected users to rogue servers controlled by the cyber thieves.  These cyber thieves manipulate a user’s web activity by redirecting them to unauthorized or fake sites that sell either gadgets, apps, or software.  The thieves make money from the purchases while also depriving legitimate sellers and web advertisers of revenue.

As of today, it is believed that some 275,000 machines are still infected with the DNSChanger.

FBI Extension

The FBI was supposed to flip the killswitch on March 8 of this year but decided to file for an extension to help victims resolve the problem.  The FBI was able to obtain a court order authorizing the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) to deploy and maintain temporary clean DNS servers but the clean DNS server will be turned off on July 9.  This means all infected machines will lose access to the internet on Monday.

Affected parties

Ordinary people who haven’t addressed the issue aren’t the only ones dreading the shutdown, as 12% of Fortune 500 companies and 4% government agencies may also lose their internet connection if they haven’t addressed their DNSChanger infection.

Protect yourself

A lot of effort has been put to inform the public of what DNSChanger is and how it can be fixed.  Now, if you’re an internet user who is infected with the Trojan but just brush off all the warnings and reminders, then I think you deserve to lose your internet connection.  If you do not know how to address the problem, you become a part of it and you are a danger to the web community.

Michael Lee of ZDNet has a great point regarding why infected people deserve to lose their internet connection.  Lee stated that these people are, “the sort to not know they’re part of a hacktivist-controlled denial-of-service botnet, an email-spamming scheme, a host to malware that can be passed to other users or a combination of all of the above. In short, they’re a danger to others on the internet. On the highway, they’re the owner of that unmaintained vehicle that has parts falling off, oil leaking everywhere, broken signal lights and high beams on all the time.”

There’s still time to check if your system is infected and to fix the problem.  Go to DCWG to learn more about the DNSChanger, find out if your computer is infected, fix the infection, and of course protect your system from future attacks after the problem has been fixed.