The DNSChanger malware infected more than four million computers in 100 countries, with 84,000 of those infected computers located in the US, according to Department of Homeland Security estimates. The malware prevents users’ anti-virus software from working correctly, allowing it to take control of the computers’ domain name systems and redirect traffic to malicious websites.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies took down the DNSChanger botnet, including the DNS servers used by the botnet, and redirected traffic to “clean” servers. But those clean servers will be shut down on July 9 and users who are still infected could be cut off from internet access.
According to the latest estimates of the DNSChanger Work Group, there are hundreds of thousands of systems that remain infected by the malware. McAfee cautions that many of those systems belong to major corporations and federal agencies.
McAfee has released a tool to detect whether systems are infected and offers a free product to keep infected systems from being disconnected.