Cyber crime: No internet for 0.25m users from today

More than a quarter million internet users across the world are to be affected by a DNS (Domain Name System) malware called DNSChanger which will curtail internet access from today (Monday) onwards, according to cnet.com.

The cutoff is scheduled for 12:01am Eastern Daylight Time. Following this time, computers affected by the malware will witness a message indicating “server not found” when they try to access the internet.

The malware will inflict internet service by changing a user’s DNS settings without permission. As a result, the desired URL is directed to another Internet Service Provider. This re-direction may deem a user’s private information susceptible to criminalised cyber-groups, and allow such groups to accumulate illegitimate revenue by making the user click on fake web advertisements.

Affecting machines in this way, the DNSChanger is a Trojan horse malware of a complex nature. According to cnet.com, it was simulated in 2007 by Estonian cyber criminals who were arrested in 2011 after having amassed $14 million in illegal revenue.

Prior to arresting the culprits, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) formulated a “redirect of the redirect”, allowing machines to dodge the affects of the malware. The FBI-formulated protection is alleged to expire on today.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2012.