WWW may log you out tomorrow Over 19k Users In India May Lose Connectivity As Virus-Hit Servers Will Be Shut

Bangalore: As the cyber world awaits Monday, when the FBI will shut down servers affected by the DNS Changer malware, India has been placed in the third spot in a list of affected countries. 

    Domain name system (DNS) is the part of the internet that links a website name (say example.com) to its numerical internet protocol equivalent (say 123.456.789.098). 
    According to the DNS Changer Working Group, as of July 4, there are 19,642 IP addresses infected in India. At the top of the table is the US with 45,619 followed by Italy with 21,831. The DNS Changer Working Group monitors DNS servers as part of efforts to undo the worldwide damage done by the malware. 
    The DNS Changer malware hit headlines last year after the FBI and Estonian police arrested many criminals who had floated a company called Rove Digital and spread viruses under various names. These viruses altered the DNS settings of computers, leading users to fraudulent websites rather than the real ones. 
    Under a US court order that expires on Monday, the Internet Systems Consortium had begun cleaning up the servers. When the FBI shuts down the rogue servers , users whose network has been infected will not be able to log on to the internet. 
    Vinoo Thomas, product manager, McAfee Labs, says it is difficult to determine the exact number of infected computers in India, which might go down on Monday. "If your system has been hit, then it means your IP address points to the infected server. Since these servers will be shut down on Monday, you will not be able to access the internet. To set it right, you will have to contact yourinternet service provider to reset the IP addresses." 
IS YOUR SYSTEM INFECTED? 
There is still a day to check if your system has been affected. Various cyber security firms are offering free solutions. For example, users can go towww.mcafee.com/dnscheck to check if their computer is infected. Symantec customers whose computer has been hit are being notified through their product. Users can also go to the DNS Changer Check-Up page (www.dcwg.org/detect), maintained by the DNS Changer Working Group, to determine whether or not their computer has been compromised.