Thousands face Internet loss as FBI shuts off servers (BBC)

July 09, 2012 at 07:01 AM
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More than 300,000 computers infected with the DNS Changer virus may have lost Internet access as the FBI shut down servers used by cyber thieves. The servers were seized in November 2011 during raids to break up a hi-tech gang who used the virus to reroute online searches through the servers so victims saw adverts that led to the gang being paid. The DNS Changer Working Group said the largest group of machines still infected with the virus was in the U.S., but impact is expected to be "minimal" because many of the systems were no longer used or maintained. "Reaching victims is a very hard problem, and something we have had issues with for years," said Johannes Ullrich, a researcher with the Sans security institute.