The FBI, Internet service providers and such popular websites as Facebook and Google have put up warnings that tens of thousands of Americans may lose their Internet service Monday due to malware that they may have downloaded without realizing it.
Last year, an international group of hackers initiated an advertising scam to take control of more than 570,000 computers. The FBI raided the hackers, but realized that taking down the servers the hackers were using would eliminate the Internet connection for all infected computers, so they maintained the servers. The FBI is going to discontinue the severs on Monday.
Although work has been done to remove the malware, the FBI has estimated that 64,000 computers in the U.S. are still infected, despite warnings and instruction sent out about the malicious software. Since most victims are unaware of the software that is installed on their computers, these machines will likely lose their Internet connection, and each person will have to call their service providers to remove the malware and reconnect.
Some providers, such as Comcast, are working with customers to remove the malware. Others could find out a way to work around the servers without needing to remove the software. This, however, could potentially lead to a slowed connection and future problems due to increased vulnerability caused by the virus.
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