Clean PC by July 9 or lose internet: Google

India
June 29, 2012 4:18am CST
[b]Just now a friend informed me via email this, ‘Do you know that 9th July is critical for your computers? Clean up your computers before that. Follow the following links...[/b] http://www.wikihow.com/Clean-Your-Computer-System www.emirates247.com/business/technology/...-2012-05-27-1.460352 “Your computer appears to be infected” – if you’re among the half-a-million users who might have seen this warning appear on your PCs recently, you’ll be in for a nasty surprise come July 9. Unless users with infected computers clean up their devices by then, they risk losing internet connectivity, search engine Google is warning as part of a new campaign to rid the world of the dreaded DNS Changer malware. Starting this week, Google says it is “undertaking an effort to notify roughly half a million people whose computers or home routers are infected with a well-publicized form of malware known as DNS Changer.” The Domain Name System (DNS) translates familiar web address names like google.com or emirates247.com into a numerical address that computers use to send traffic to the right place. [b]The DNS Changer malware modifies DNS settings to use malicious servers that point users to fake sites and other harmful locations. [/b] DNS Changer attempts to modify the settings on home routers as well, meaning other computers and mobile devices may also be affected. Google says that any users of its search tools who are detected redirecting to DNS Changer’s substituted domains will see the stark warning splashed on top of their search results page. “We’ve… started showing warnings via a special message that will appear at the top of the Google search results page for users with affected devices,” Google warned on its online security blog (http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com / ). Google, however, acknowledges that it might not be able to reach all of its target audience of affected users with this current campaign. “While we expect to notify more than 500,000 users within a week, we realize we won’t reach every affected user. Some ISPs have been taking their own actions, a few of which will prevent our warning from being displayed on affected devices,” said Google's warning. As many as half the users affected by DNS Change do not speak English and had not reacted to warnings already issued by the FBI and others, Google believed. “At the current disinfection rate hundreds of thousands of devices will still be infected when the court order expires on July 9th and the replacement DNS servers are shut down,” Google said. However, July 9 remains a binding date, says the search engine, and warns that devices that remain affected on that day may experience Internet disruption. “At that time, any remaining infected machines may experience slowdowns or completely lose Internet access,” it warns. [b]Friends are you aware of this? I am confused, if this is coming; if it comes can we prevent, if so how? Please share your views and comment on this story. Thanks in advance.[/b] Prof.Bhuwan 29th June 2012. [i][/i][u][/u]
7 people like this
11 responses
@udit1985 (19)
• India
29 Jun 12
till now i have not seen this type of message if it is seen in your computer please, contact your hardware & networking professional
• India
19 Jan 13
Glad to know, you never say this. See response #7 by owlwings, it gives the right information.
@else22 (4317)
• India
29 Jun 12
Thanks a lot for the valuable information.Although I did not have any such information on my desktop,but now on I would be on alert.In fact,I have decided to take a pre-emptive action.I would call on my hardware specialist to clean my computer now.I had no idea about the malware.Thanks a lot once again for the information.
2 people like this
• India
19 Jan 13
Thanks for response, it is better to go for a scan always.. See response #7 by owlwings, it gives the right information.
@else22 (4317)
• India
19 Jan 13
Yes,the information by owlwings was really wonderfu.My router was infected.I scanned and cleaned it.
@laydee (12798)
• Philippines
29 Jun 12
I have not seen this either and nothing like this ever reached me in my account. Perhaps it's only limited? Where was the person located? I am wondering if I'm affected or infected. It made me worry because I'm not really a computer person. Whew! I hope all is well. Have a great MyLot experience ahead!
1 person likes this
@tigeraunt (6326)
• Philippines
29 Jun 12
dear professor, oh my! this is disturbing. you know i lost the internet on the 26th. until now i dont have it because there are no technical people from the internet office who can help me out. but then the finding during the trouble shooting was undetected antenna, still i cant avoid getting worried. the last thing that the operator told me when i complained was they are going to send technical group by sunday. way too long. but what can i do? ann
2 people like this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
4 Jul 12
I guess that I can consider myself to be lucky that I've never seen any kind of warning like that on my computer. With that said, in the last few months both my husband and I have reinstalled our operating systems because there were things going on with our computers that didn't seem to be just right, so I would hope that we will be safe when it comes to this. I will also say that this is not the first time that I've heard about this happening.
@ravisivan (14079)
• India
29 Jun 12
Professor bhai: I think we need not worry. It is because we have been using software to clean cookies, temporary files, defragment etc. I remember your telling me that you are using windows for cleaning the computer. I suggested some other cleaner and you mentioned this. incidentally Sir, I have reached Toronto, Canada yesterday. We hope to return to Chennai on November 9th. best wishes
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
29 Jun 12
hi professor I have a great anti virus protection 2012 AVG so I believe I am clean. it scans every week and if anything is detected anytime it notifies me and put it in the vault.I really do not think I have anything to worry about as it scans for malware too.
@celticeagle (159426)
• Boise, Idaho
29 Jun 12
Hi there. This is scarey. What will they think of next? Hopefully this is not something that is on our computers. I guess we know for sure on July 9th. Here is a link to detect if this mallware is on your computer:http://www.dcwg.org/detect/
@laken02 (3065)
• United States
29 Jun 12
thanks form the great advice, and all who posted the site to check, i just went to the free site that was provided and it said my computer was fine and going to the right sites.. Thank God for that.. again thanks for the warning i would rather be safe then sorry.. :) i also saved the site on favorites bercasue it said if it ever happens to my computer to go to this site..to fix it.. just glad mine is ok
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
29 Jun 12
Well, by that time professor i am already at the office. Hence, the IT people will take care of it. They know what to do.
@PageTurner (2825)
• United States
29 Jun 12
Thank you for all of this information, Professor2010. I am dutifully reading all of the links that you so generously provided. I hope that you are feeling better. Peace