17°c Clear
25°c Chance of thundershowers
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Computers in Canada at risk as FBI closes scam firewall
PAUL SAKUMA / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Computers infected by the scam malware haven�t had anti-virus software updates. (CP)
MONTREAL -- About 9,000 Canadian-owned computers could be infected and lose access to websites, email and social networking on Monday when the FBI shuts down temporary servers used to stop a scam, experts say.
Overall some 300,000 computers, most of them in the United States, Italy and India, could be infected and lose their Internet service, Queen's University associate professor Thomas Dean said Friday.
"The computer will start up, but when you try to use your mail or try to use your browser, you are going to get some kind of error message," Dean said from Kingston, Ont.
Warnings about the Internet problem have been splashed across Facebook and Google, and Dean said that initially about four million computers were infected globally.
The FBI took down hackers in an online advertising scam last fall and had clean servers installed to take over from the malicious servers so people wouldn't lose their Internet service right away, but the replacements are being turned off Monday.
Dean said Canadians can go to www.dcwg.org to check if their computers are infected and take appropriate measures. He said Canadians may also have to check routers to see if they have been affected too, and reset them.
"We've got roughly 9,000 computers that still appear to be infected," he said about the Canadian situation.
If computers have been infected due to the scam, they haven't been able to perform anti-virus software or system updates, leaving them vulnerable to other malware, said Dean, who teaches in Queen's University's department of electrical and computer engineering.
The DNSChanger Trojan malware program at issue was created to redirect Internet traffic and hijack online searches.
Symantec's Dean Turner said East European and Russian hackers generated a profit of $14 million by setting up rogue servers and getting paid for driving traffic to malicious websites and for putting fake ads on top of real ads on legitimate sites.
"It was basically click fraud -- hijacked searches," said Turner, director of global intelligence for Symantec, a software security company.
He said it's difficult to predict how many infected computers would be in Canada, but 9,000 wouldn't be "out of whack."
On Monday, infected computers will get a message saying "Cannot find this website," he said from Calgary.
"It would block all access to the Internet."
-- The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 7, 2012 A26
More Canada
- Back to Top
- Return to Canada
More Canada
(1 of 7 articles for today)
At 76, she has high school diploma in hand
1:00 AM 0VANCOUVER -- A great-grandmother who has waited 56 years to get her high school diploma can finally cross that dream ...
Poll
Most Popular Canada
- Corruption in Quebec: A blow-by-blow account
- Liberal MP, former leader Bob Rae stepping down to focus on First Nations
- 'Shocking' half of First Nations kids living in poverty, new study finds
- Fast and curious driver caught going 221 km/h loses car, nets double the fine
- Commons breaks for summer with reeling Conservatives poised for major retooling
- Border agency warns of telephone scam, says it doesn't make calls
- 30,000 people homeless on a given night, first-ever national tally suggests
- Tory attacks on Trudeau boomerang, raise questions about PMO involvement
- Montreal will get its new, new mayor Tuesday
- Children taken from Mennonite community as more abuse charges are laid
- Sobeys gobbles up Safeway
- Manitoba restaurant stops selling giant hamburger "for obvious reasons"
- Montreal's interim mayor, a self-styled corruption fighter, faces fraud charges
- Corruption in Quebec: A blow-by-blow account
- Woman charged after drink tossed at embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
- Fast and curious driver caught going 221 km/h loses car, nets double the fine
- Questions about Mayor Rob Ford overshadow news of huge police raids
- Trudeau to compensate charities that paid him to help raise money
- Liberal MP, former leader Bob Rae stepping down to focus on First Nations
- 'Shocking' half of First Nations kids living in poverty, new study finds
- Woman run over three times by her own car
- Sobeys gobbles up Safeway
- Controversy around Toronto mayor Rob Ford continues to grow
- Glover, Bezan fight suspension from Parliament
- Alleged Rob Ford drug video 'gone,' source tells Gawker
- Gawker hits $200K for 'crack cocaine' video as mayor's senior aides resign
- Two men now facing first-degree murder charges in Tim Bosma test drive death
- 'I am not stepping aside,' Mayor Rob Ford says, as 'crack video' scandal rages
- Mother cries, yells as driver appears in court charged with killing boy on patio
- Manitoba restaurant stops selling giant hamburger "for obvious reasons"
- 30,000 people homeless on a given night, first-ever national tally suggests
- Next! Montreal seeks yet another mayor after second one quits in scandal
- Hike in disclosure for public servants should apply to unions too: Liberals
- Corruption in Quebec: A blow-by-blow account
- The Great One firmly believes NHL will return to Quebec City someday
- 'Shocking' half of First Nations kids living in poverty, new study finds
- Brothers' testimony to be considered jointly
- Border agency warns of telephone scam, says it doesn't make calls
- Sobeys gobbles up Safeway
- Senate's hired motivational speakers scrubbed after planned pep talk goes public
- 'Shocking' half of First Nations kids living in poverty, new study finds
- Manitoba restaurant stops selling giant hamburger "for obvious reasons"
- Feds want to extend blanket of permanent secrecy over 11 new agencies
- 30,000 people homeless on a given night, first-ever national tally suggests
- Canadian and American missing for nearly two weeks in Mexico
- Squirrel takes whirl in toilet; woman rescues rodent with barbecue tongs
- Wendy's 9-patty burger extinct
- Training manuals for Parliament guides boost Senate, praise two-party system
- Sobeys gobbles up Safeway
- Glover, Bezan fight suspension from Parliament
- Woman run over three times by her own car
- Ottawa threatens 'retaliatory measures' over new U.S. meat labelling regulations
- Prominent Canadians back petition to rename Victoria Day to honour aboriginals
- Canadian and American missing for nearly two weeks in Mexico
- Banff officials hunt for cougar that man fought off with skateboard
- Harper government brings in new performance review system for public service
- Senate's hired motivational speakers scrubbed after planned pep talk goes public
- 'Shocking' half of First Nations kids living in poverty, new study finds
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
Have Your Say
Comments are open to Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscribers only. why?
Login SubscribeHave Your Say
Comments are open to Winnipeg Free Press Subscribers only. why?
SubscribeThe Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.