The FBI Could Cut Your Internet Access in Four Days

WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) — For months now, the FBI has been
warning people that a blackout of their access to the Internet could be
coming. The warnings about the Internet problem have been splashed
across Facebook and Google, and Internet service providers have sent
notices as well.

But tens of thousands of Americans may still lose their Internet
service Monday unless they do a quick check of their computers for
malware that could have taken over their machines more than a year ago.

The Blaze has covered the story a couple times, first stating the FBI would shut off Internet access to computers still infected as of March and later reported the extension the clean-up period until July 9.

Despite repeated alerts, the number of computers that probably are
infected is more than 277,000 worldwide, down from about 360,000 in
April. Of those still infected, the FBI believes that about 64,000 are
in the United States.

Users whose computers are still infected Monday will lose their
ability to go online, and they will have to call their service providers
for help deleting the malware and reconnecting to the Internet.

To check whether a computer is infected, users can visit a website run by the group brought in by the FBI: http://www.dcwg.org.
This link also provides resources for how to “disinfect” your computer
should the malware be found on it. As the Blaze has reported before, the
FBI has said fixing the problem will be much harder once your access to
the Internet is cut off.

The
check takes less than 15 seconds. If you're not infected, the screen
shown to you will have a green background, like the image above. (Image:
DCWG.org)

The problem began when international hackers ran an online
advertising scam to take control of more than 570,000 infected computers
around the world. When the FBI went in to take down the hackers late
last year, agents realized that if they turned off the malicious servers
being used to control the computers, all the victims would lose their
Internet service.

In a highly unusual move, the FBI set up a safety net. They brought
in a private company to install two clean Internet servers to take over
for the malicious servers so that people would not suddenly lose their
Internet.

But that temporary system will be shut down at 12:01 a.m. EDT Monday, July 9.

Most victims don’t even know their computers have been infected,
although the malicious software probably has slowed their Web surfing
and disabled their antivirus software, making their machines more
vulnerable to other problems.

But popular social networking sites and Internet providers have
gotten more involved, reaching out to computer users to warn of the
problem.

Check out this animation to see the number of infections spread per hour during a given time-frame:

According to Tom Grasso, an FBI supervisory special agent, many
Internet providers are ready for the problem and have plans to try to
help their customers. Some, such as Comcast, already have reached out.

Number of computers still infected by country as of June 11, 2012. (Image: DCWG.org)

The company sent out notices and posted information on its website.
Because the company can tell whether there is a problem with a
customer’s Internet server, Comcast sent an email, letter or Internet
notice to customers whose computers appeared to be affected.

Grasso said other Internet providers may come up with technical
solutions that they will put in place Monday that will either correct
the problem or provide information to customers when they call to say
their Internet isn’t working. If the Internet providers correct the
server problem, the Internet will work, but the malware will remain on
victims’ computers and could pose future problems.

In addition to individual computer owners, about 50 Fortune 500 companies are still infected, Grasso said.

Both Facebook and Google created their own warning messages that
showed up if someone using either site appeared to have an infected
computer. Facebook users would get a message that says, “Your computer
or network might be infected,” along with a link that users can click
for more information.

Google users got a similar message, displayed at the top of a Google
search results page. It also provides information on correcting the
problem.

The site includes links to respected commercial sites that will run a
quick check on the computer, and it also lays out detailed instructions
if users want to actually check the computer themselves.

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