MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) -
Tens of thousands of Americans may still lose their Internet service Monday unless they do a quick check of their computers for malware that could have taken over their machines more than a year ago.
Warnings about the Internet problem have been splashed across Facebook and Google, while Internet service providers have sent notices and the FBI even set up a special website.
The number of computers probably infected is more than a quarter-of-a-million worldwide. The FBI believes about 64,000 of them are in the U.S.
Users whose computers are still infected Monday will lose their ability to go online, and they will have to call their Internet service providers for help.
To check whether your computer is infected, go to http://www.dcwg.org
The problem started when hackers ran an online advertising scam to takeover more than 570,000 infected computers worldwide. When the FBI went in to take down the hackers late last year, they realized turning off the malicious servers would be a kill switch for those users' Internet service.
So, the FBI set up a safety net, bringing in a private company to replace the malicious servers with two clean ones. But that temporary patch will be shut down at 12:01 a.m. EDT Monday, July 9.
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