Useful Links To See If East European Malware Changed Your Computer's DNS Settings, Avoid Possible Internet Loss At 12:01 a.m. Monday

(July 8, 2012) -- While we doubt any of this will happen to you, but there's a chance some people across the country may lose internet connectivity at 12:01 a.m. Monday. That will happen to those whose computers are among those nationally and internationally that were infected by some East European bad guys who were identified by the FBI last year.

The East European bad guys devised malware that, unbeknownst to users, quietly changed the "DNS" (Domain Name System) settings in unsuspecting victims' computers to misdirect them to rogue servers displaying similar looking but rogue websites. (This has nothing to do with LBReport.com; the issue affects users nationally and internationally.)

Authorities subsequently set up replacement DNS servers that are clean, but these clean servers are scheduled to go offline at 12:01 a.m. Monday. That means that some people whose computers were infected and had their DNS settings changed might not realize it...and may lose their internet connectivity at midnight.

There are multiple news stories about about this, including on CNET.com, among others.

The FBI has a step by step set of instructions that lets you check if your DNS settings were changed. ALSO, VERY IMPORTANT: if you use a router -- especially with high speed internet -- you also have to check the router's DNS numbers too (because the virus might have changed them. To access the FBI informational pdf, click this link: FBI Information re DNSChanger Malware (The link takes you to: http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/november/malware_110911/DNS-changer-malware.pdf).

The good news is, it's fairly simple to see if your DNS settings were changed and fix it. The less than good news is it may take you a few minutes you don't have...but it's probably a few minutes well spent. That's because the bad news is if your computer was infected, you may also now have computer viruses and other malware on your computer...and it's much better to know that now than to be in the dark.

If you do happen to lose your internet connectivity at 12:01 a.m. Monday, call your internet service provider and they should be able to step you through instructions to get you back online.