Thousands of Internet users across the United States could find themselves involuntarily offline on Monday, July 9, according to information provided by the FBI.
In a Washington Post article that ran Thursday, officials stated that a virus known as DNSChanger—it affects a computers’ ability to correctly access the Internet’s DNS system and effectively redirects users to fake sites or places that promoted fake products—is due to strike again on Monday when a safety net of servers are set to go down.
The virus once infected approximately 4 million computers across the world. To determine whether your computer is among them, the Washing Post suggests heading "to any number of checker Web sites such as the DNS Changer Working Group or the FBI itself to either enter your IP address or simply click a button to run a check against addresses known to have problems."
According to the DCWG, those infected with the virus should back up any important files. Then you will have to run tools to get rid of the virus, such as Microsoft Windows Defender Off line, Norton Power Eraser and MacScan.
Scanning your computer for viruses is always a good idea. So even if you are fairly certain this one will not infect you, it's a good reason to take time and do a sweep anyway.
Rudy