DNSChanger virus fails to bring down computers
10 Jul 2012
The so-called internet doomsday virus, which it was feared, would black out tens of thousands of computers worldwide posed no major problems yesterday after a temporary fix expired.
Security firms did not report any significant outages linked to the DNS changer virus, as many internet service providers had either implemented a fix or contacted customers with steps to clean their computers.
The problem is caused by malware known as DNSChanger, which was created by cybercriminals to redirect internet traffic by hijacking the domain name systems (DNS) of web browsers.
The ring behind the DNSChanger, which had infected around 4 million computers worldwide, was shut down last year by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Estonian police and other law enforcement agencies.
Six Estonians and a Russian were charged in Estonia in November with infecting computers, including NASA machines, with the malware which formed part of an online advertising scam that grossed at least $14 million.
Some 210,000 computers worldwide remained infected as of Sunday, including over 41,000 in the US, a working group monitoring the problem said.