For those that have been following the media for the last few days, there is a virus in the wild known as "DNS Changer Virus". This is actually a virus that has been around for five years now but an upcoming event scheduled for Monday July 9th is what is bringing this back into the news. For more in depth reading, follow this link to a CNET article.
Everything you do on the Internet is first processed through a DNS server. This server takes your request such as www.facebook.com and translates it back as a IP number such as 69.171.224.37 which is what your computer needs to connect to the server. Depending upon your network setup, you might connect to a local DNS server or to one located on the Internet. This DNS changer virus changes the settings on your computer which sends your requests to a different server. The problem is that this server your being sent to will send back improper results steering you to infected web servers in hope to further infect your computers.
For you Apple lovers that say you can't be infected....Yes, Mac's are also vulnerable to this virus!
The FBI have arrested the hackers, removed the fake DNS servers, and placed clean ones in their place, but come July 9th the FBI will be shutting down those servers. If your computer is infected, you will loose the ability to surf on the Internet once these servers are turned off.
Clients whose networks are under managed care by Preferred IT Group shouldn't worry as safety guards are in place to prevent such attack. However we also realize that many of you have home computers that could be infected or your office network isn't under managed care. (Known as Preferred Care) For your home computer, forward this email to your home email address so you can use the following information at home.
How can I tell if I'm infected?
Click
on this link to see if your computer is pointing to the wrong DNS
server.
Green means then you're fine,
Red, give us a call as something isn't
correct.
In coordination with the FBI, DCWG has built a website to help educate what this virus does and how to detect, fix and protect yourself from it. To learn more about this virus in great detail, click this link which will take you to the DCWG website which was designed to help understand this virus.
If you have any questions, just give
our office a call and we'll be more than happy to help answer any
questions you may have.
Don Bentz - Co-Founder
Preferred IT Group, LLC
260.213.4266 - Columbia City
260.440.7377 - Fort Wayne
260.488.8090 - Hamilton
574.306.4288 - Warsaw
866.369-1970 - Toll Free
www.preferreditgroup.com