NASHVILLE, Tenn. -
Despite numerous campaigns by online corporations Google and Facebook, thousands of people may not be able to get on the Internet Monday.
The reason behind the outage is a new malware has infected over 50,000 computers.
The concern is so great, the FBI has gotten involved.
Most of the time, it is easy to tell when our computer has been infected with a virus or malware. The latest threat, however, has been sitting on thousands of computers for more than a year.
The malware was spread more than a year ago through computer advertisements. With just a click, a computer could have been infected. The malware not only disables your Internet, it also disables your anti-virus software.
The FBI learned of the problem last year, and went into the servers to remove the malware. The agency realized if they removed it, all of those customers would lose their Internet connection immediately.
The FBI decided to install backup servers instead. Why the big scare on Monday, then? The FBI plans to shut down those servers Sunday night.
Comcast, Facebook and Google have sent messages to many customers with infected computers, suggesting they run anti-malware programs to have the virus removed over the weekend.
The FBI says most people with the infected computers don't know they're infected but there's an easy way to find out.
To find out if your computer has been infected, the FBI recommends checking your computer at DNS-OK.us.
Computer professionals recommend backing up all of your important files to an external hard drive, and enlisting the help of a professional if you don't feel comfortable using one of the "self-help" malware cleanup guides they provide.
