Clean Up DNSChanger Before Monday or Risk Losing Internet Access

Late last year, the FBI kicked DNSChanger in the teeth when it arrested a sextet of Estonian nationals running a cybercrime enterprise and shut down their servers. DNSChanger is malware that hijacked DNS servers and made users incredibly vulnerable to redirects to fake and malicious websites, malware attacks from other sources, and miscellaneous remote interference; to keep users safe from harm, the FBI had the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) set up temporary clean DNS servers.

At the time, a small note in the announcement indicated that those temporary servers would be taken offline on July 9, 2012 and that any systems still affected by DNSChanger may lose Internet connectivity. If you’re keeping track, that date is this Monday.


The good news is that the DNSChanger Working Group (DCWG) is on it and has a fix for you. You can head on over to their website for some practical instructions on how to go about checking for and ameliorating any DNSChanger infection, including links to several tools that can remove the malware from the likes of Kaspersky Labs, McAfee, SurfRight, Microsoft, Norton, Trend Micro, MacScan, and Avira. There is also a site called DNS Changer Check-Up where you can run a quick check as well.

So pick your favorite security software maker from the above list and get cleaning. You have less than four days to do it.