UPDATE: Google to Alert Users to FBI Controlled Internet Connections

The FBI recently concluded a two year investigation into a sophisticated Internet fraud ring with the arrest of six Estonian nationals. The fraud ring infected computers with a virus that prevented them from updating anti-virus software leaving them vulnerable to financial fraud schemes. As part of the investigation the FBI took control of the internet connections of millions of internet users. On July 9th the FBI will shut down the DNS Internet servers to an estimated 350,000 computers still  remaining under their control. 

Three days ago Google jumped into the spotlight by taking the proactive approach of notifying users if their computer is infected and on the list to go down when the FBI pulls the plug. Infected computers will lose their Internet connection for good when the FBI shuts down the FBI controlled DNS servers with no redirects for Internet traffic in place.

“The Google warning will be at the top of the search results page for regular searches and image searches and news searches,” Google security engineer Damian Menscher told CNET this morning. “The text will say, ‘Your computer appears to be infected,’ and it will give additional detail warning them that they may not be able to connect to the Internet in the future.” 

If you don’t want to wait until the next time you search Google you can find out if you’re infected now by visiting the DNS Changer Check-Up site, which checks the DNS resolution of your PC without installing any additional software. For infected users, the DNS Changer Working Group has a list of anti-virus software that can fix the problem, and Avira offers a repair tool specifically for DNS Changer.

 For more information on how to protect your network and computer from malware and viruses please Contact one of our Network Security Experts today by sending us an email or calling 800-300-5500.