“FBI Says 41,800 computers are still infected in the United States” - FBI Spokeswomen Jenny Shearer

Early Monday morning the DNSChanger Virus safe servers were shut down by the FBI. On July 5th via the FBI’s “This Week” podcast Thomas Grasso indicated that there were approximately 64,000 computers in the United States still infected with the DNS changer virus.

There were conflicting reports via FBI spokeswoman Jenny Shearer indicated that there were only 45,600 infected computers in the U.S. on the 4th. She also indicated that by the 8th they suspected only 41,800 computers were still infected.

Fortunately many of the major internet service providers (ISP’s) have configured their own DNS servers to allow infected computers to still access the internet through the end of the year, via AT&T Spokesman Mark Siegel and CNET.com


FBI spokeswoman Shearer explained that this type of safety net was not needed in the past, but is a tribute to Law Enforcement Agencies and private company’s determination to combat Cybercrime and adapt to whatever type of cyber-threat that may happen.

The DNSchanger virus was a type of malware, spyware, and computer virus that would hijack the host computer’s DNS systems. Dns systems are responsible for sending users to a correct web address. For instance, when the DNS system is working correctly a user would type www.google.com into an internet browser and would be sent to the legitimate Google homepage and website.


“DNSChanger generated over 14 million dollars in fraudulent ad revenue”

Once infected with the DNS changer virus a user would be directed to several different types of fake websites, depending on the type of website that was being visited. For instance, when a user would visit espn.com they would see the legitimate ESPN website but would see fake advertisements placed by the virus, or when visiting search engines users would actually see a completely fake but very convincing version of the search engine and results.

The company Rove Digital was responsible for the virus, and generated over 14 million dollars in fraudulent advertising revenue over the 4+ year lifespan of the virus. They were suspected of infecting millions of computers worldwide.

When the FBI raided the Rove Digital headquarters they discovered the full impact of the virus, and they found out that if they shut down the cyber criminals servers right away millions would lose internet access immediately.

The FBI decided to set up temporary safe severs allowing the millions to still access the internet and shortly after they launched a thorough campaign to inform the public of the potential threat and help them successfully diagnose and remove the DNSChanger virus.


“There have been no reports of anyone loosing access to the internet” - SANS Instute

The FBI was assisted in the efforts to notify the public of this threat through the media and by dozens of organizations including social media giant Facebook and search engine giant Google. These efforts lead to successfully removing the virus from hundreds of thousands of computers in the last several months.


As of yesterday the Sans Institute (a security standards and training company) indicated they had not received any reports of anyone losing access to the internet this Monday. If you think you might have the DNS Changer Virus, we provide a complete free virus diagnosis. Simply click on the “connect now” button located at the top and bottom of this web page or call us at 885-298-5460 for immediate help with diagnosing and removing the DNSChanger Virus.