Internet Blackout for Thousands Possible as...

Thousands of Internet users may lose access Monday in an internet blackout as a temporary fix to the ominous-sounding Internet Doomsday virus expires. Last November, US and Estonian authorities busted a malware ring that used the Internet Doomsday virus to redirect search engines to servers used by the hackers.

Federal courts then ordered the FBI to put up temporary servers as a sort of stopgap measure to fix the problem. However, the FBI will turn off these temporary servers as of 12:01 am ESTÂ—causing an Internet outage for any computers still infected. Infected machines will not have working Internet access, meaning those unfortunate users will be looking at a lack of connectivity and a virus in need of removal before they can connect again.

Estimates by Internet security experts say that over 300,000 computers worldwide are still infected with this virus. About 69,000 of those computers are in the USA. Many people who did not realize they had this virus may find themselves suddenly in a state of Internet blackout from home or work come tomorrow, which could cause all sorts of problems for productivity and personal internet users.

Some internet providers like AT&T and Time Warner have already addressed the problem proactively and will allow the infected computers to connect. Fortunately if a user finds themselves without access, the problem is easy to fix. There are many utilities available to remove the virus from infected machines.

Running a malware check can show if a machine is infectedÂ—and might be a good idea to do today before Internet Doomsday blackouts occur.