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  • Warning: You May Be About to Lose Your Internet
Technology Articles > Software > Security & Privacy > Warning: You May Be About to Lose Your Internet

In 2007, a major malware problem swept the globe. This problem was called DNS Changer, and it infected thousands of computers. Once infected, a compromised system would re-direct to a false site after a user had type a website name into a search bar. For example, if you were to type the address for the well-known Internet encyclopedia site Wikipedia into your search bar, and your systems was infected, it would look like you were at the right page, but, in fact, malware would be collecting personal data from you. In addition, these false DNS Changer sites bombard visitors with a number of advertisements that are hard to ignore.

The major problem with DNS Changer is that a large number of people who have infected systems don’t know about this malware. But, if your system is infected you will not have access to the Internet starting Monday morning. I’ll repeat – if your system is infect with DNS Changer, you will not be able to access the Internet any longer. This reaction to the malware is a decision made by governments to protect Internet users from vicious phishing programs. The only way to stop the malware now is to restrict access to the Internet.

How To Tell if Your System Is Infected

If you don’t want to lose access to the Internet, make sure to visit this website{{http://www.dns-ok.us/|}} before Monday morning. When you visit the site, you will either see a green or red page. If the page is red, your system has been infected. If the page is green, your system is safe from harm. If you live outside of the U.S., you will see a separate link for your specific country. Thankfully, fixing an infected computer is not difficult.

How to Fix An Infected System

So, you went to the link above and you saw a red page – now what? This site
{{http://www.dcwg.org/fix/|}} lists a number of free tools that you can use to wipe your system clean. Cleaning your system will not take that long, and it is the only way that you will ever be able to access the Internet again. While cleaning up your computer and getting rid of DNS Changer is important, it’s also vital that you learn how to prevent this type of infection in the future.

Prevention: Still the Best Course of Action

You must, must, must, have a security suite installed on your computer – even if you own a Mac. Apple computers are no longer immune to virus attacks. Anti-virus and malware suites are not fool-proof, but these suites will protect your system from most known viruses. The other thing that you can do to prevent any kind of attack in the future is to always make sure the URL that you originally type in is the URL that is still present at the top of your screen. If you see that a URL is different in any manner, do not type personal information onto any page. Instead, sweep your system clean prior to continuing any online actions.

Keep in mind that the Internet will not be accessible to anyone who has a computer that’s infected with the DNS Changer malware virus starting this Monday. Instead of being able to access the Internet, you will see a “Page Not Found” notice if your computer has been infected. To avoid a surprise, make sure to visit the testing site listed above before Monday rolls around.