Internet blackout warning

The Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SLCERT) warned Internet users in Sri Lanka about a total Internet blackout. According to SLCERT, thousands of Sri Lankan Internet users will be among millions worldwide who will face a total Internet blackout from today, due to a malicious piece of software that may infect their computers without their knowledge. That is the warning from the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team|Coordinating Centre (Sri Lanka CERT|CC), which recently issued a statement appealing to Internet users to check to verify if their computers were infected.

The web blackout from today will be enforced by the FBI, which is shutting down several web servers through which infected users. It is shutting them down because of an investigation into a sophisticated Internet fraud ring that used the servers to manipulate people’s web browsing, Sri Lanka CERT|CC said.

The malware changes a user’s domain name system (DNS) settings, diverting all web requests through servers that the FBI seized in November, but has been temporarily maintaining to ensure Internet services were not disrupted.

This maintenance is to finish today, meaning computers still infected will face Internet troubles.

Sri Lanka CERT|CC states it is likely that users infected will be unable to connect to the Internet when the temporary DNS solution is switched off in July.

The ways in which users are most likely to be infected by this malware is by opening malicious attachments in emails or by visiting suspect websites through links included in an email.

Sri Lanka CERT|CC said it has not as yet received any complaints regarding infected computers or any Internet users being a victim of this malware. They advice Internet users to check if their computers have been infected by this malicious software and remove it if necessary by visiting the following link; http://www.dcwg.org/detect