There are different types of malware that are responsible for deceiving our operating system to obtain personal information or make money through the installation of software without our consent.

One of them, highly infectious, is known to redirect web traffic through malicious servers and can damage both PC and Mac (yes, Mac too). Although the creators of this malware have been arrested time ago, the threat remains and there are rumors about the impossibility of infected users to access Internet this 9 of July.

The Trojan, called DNS Changer, appeared in 2007 for the first time and creates a net bot that changes the way the system accesses the DNS (Domain Name Service is the way web hosting addresses). This is, it redirects your DNS queries to a server created by the developers of the Trojan software and “hijacks” all Internet traffic from your computer. What do they get by doing this? Well, they are able to take you to the websites they want, especially websites created by hackers, full of ads that give them money by visit or by doing click on those ads.

The workaround:
The FBI closed the operation, called Digital Rove last November when they arrested the developers of malware and their malicious servers were suspended. To ensure that no infected computers can’t access internet, the FBI created its own DNS servers.

The threat continues:
Those FBI DNS servers will close soon. It was established that those servers would work only for four months, but a judge ordered the FBI to continue operating them until July 9, 2012, which they suppose to be enough time to “clean” the infected computers.

The computers which still have the Trojan, after the 9 of July will suffer. That is why we recommend the following steps to solve this problem as soon as possible:
- Download anti-malware and run a complete examination of your PC.
- Download one of 5 free and most secure antivirus software and keep its database updated (if you have a Mac, download this free antivirus)

We also recommended to know more about malware software to understand a bit more what this is all about.

To see if your PC is infected, you have to go to the DNS Changer Check-Up site which will notify you if the DNS of your computer is working properly. If your computer is infected, an organization called DNS Changer Working Group  offers a complete list of cleaning tools, as the FBI does

Although most computers will be clean before they reach the deadline date, it is most likely that some won’t pass the test of 9 of July. What do you think it can happen with those devices? Will they be damaged in some way? Tell us your ideas.

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