Internet doomsday and the Estonian cyber mafia

[marmar]

from the Independent UK:



Hundreds of thousands of computers will simultaneously lose access to the internet on 9 July, unless their owners check for a virus that may have remained hidden for several years, the FBI has warned.

The so-called "internet doomsday" will come when the bureau turns off a server system its investigators installed in November, when they broke up an Estonian crime ring that was running a global internet advertising scam.

Since 2007, the six men had been using a Trojan to seize control of computers from all over the world. Their malware was able to take over PCs and Apple products, though iPhones and iPads were not affected.

The virus, called DNS Changer, would redirected the web browsers of victims from sites they wanted to visit to ones controlled by the gang. Revenue from adverts tied to those sites earned the criminals an estimated $14m (£9.1m) in commission. The only noticeable effects of the virus were a slight slowing of internet service, an increase in pop-up adverts, and the anti-virus software having been disabled. By late last year, when the FBI and Estonian authorities shut down the racket, the virus had seized control of about half a million computers. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/fbi-warns-virus-victims-face-internet-doomsday-7676060.html

[AsahinaKimi]

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