If the internet goes dark on March 8th then chances are you have a rootkit infection known as DNS Changer. It originally rerouted your internet connection via a botnet system in Estonia. It also prevents security updates for antivirus applications and Windows OS. The malicious servers have been taken off-line and substituted by the FBI but your internet connection will fail March 8th onwards if you have the infection.
It's a very small neat script that makes use of known security holes and effects several registry changes on a Windows PC. Linux users are immune. It started out as a scam to redirect internet users to malicious websites but now the servers have been substituted by the FBI it's just a general infection/security issue. There's a fairly extensive infection footprint and I came across the little critter the other day on somebody elses network. In most cases the user will be unaware of the infection until the substitute servers are pulled in a couple of weeks. Cleaning an infected PC is tricky but possible. For most victims a reinstall is the easiest way to go.
Happy surfing!!
http://www.pcworld.com/article/25029...html#tk.hp_pop
http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com...o-its-victims/
Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.