As the Internet continues to grow and mature, the dangers that can be found online also get bigger and badder.
Malware has especially been getting more dangerous and more high-tech over the last few years. Despite advances that viruses and Malware have seen over the last few years, the average Web user still doesn’t understand just how many dangers he/she can run across on any given day.
Malware developers are also stepping up their game. Apple (News - Alert) software used to be considered virus proof until earlier this year when several Apple computers came down with a virus. Now it appears that several thousand Internet users might get knocked off the Web on Monday thanks to one particular Malware virus that they may have downloaded to their computers more than a year ago.
Warnings about this particular attack have been plastered all over the Internet for the last few days, including sites like Facebook and Google (News - Alert). ISPs from every corner of the Internet have been sending out notices and the federal government has even set up a website designed to handle questions about this particular Malware.
The problem began when a group of hackers started an online advertising campaign that infected more than 570,000 computers worldwide. When the FBI moved in on the group, they realized that shutting down the infected servers would actually terminate Internet access for the computers that had been infected.
In a unique move, the FBI actually brought in clean servers to eliminate and replace the Malware servers, allowing users to continue their internet access. The problem is that the temporary servers are set to be shut down on July 9 at 12:01 AM EST.
In order to prepared people for potential Internet loss, ISPs, the government and the biggest Internet companies in the world have assembled to spread the word. The bureau believes there are still around 277,000 computers in the world infected and somewhere in the neighborhood of 64,000 computers in the U.S.
The FBI’s site, http://www.dcwg.org, will allow individuals to find how they can check whether they are indeed infected.