Security Advisor
DNSChanger Shutdown Weeds Out Internet Inept
Losing those that still had infected systems is a good thing for the rest of us.
After months of grave warnings that the Internet could be forever changed this Monday for those who had the DNSChanger Trojan loaded up on their system, the FBI-controlled servers were permanently shut down.
And just like every high-profile doomsday prediction, the date has passed and the world continues to spin.
Estimates point to only about 210,000 worldwide unique IP addresses that actually lost Internet connectivity on Monday. And I'm guessing that those systems associated with said IP addresses aren't being used (or used responsibly) anyway.
That's because even if you have been using a free, bare-bones antivirus program, you should have been notified that your system has been infected since late last year. And even if you practice the not-so-smart act of ignoring those warning pop-ups, you wouldn't have been able to avid Google's constant nagging to clean your system (which would have notified you every time you used Google search, Gmail or any of the other online services from the Internet search company).
And for the most tech-illiterate individual who doesn't keep up with the latest cyber trends, you couldn't avoid turning on your TV without being reminded to check your computer. Shows like "Good Morning America" mentioned the DNSChanger at least five times in a particular hour of broadcast last Friday.
So with the constant badgering by the media and our own systems to purge DNSChanger, do I feel sorry for those 210,000 who started the week in an Internet blackout? Not at all.
The way I see it is if you are the type of individual who would go out of the way NOT to remove the Trojan (and it would take more effort to ignore it than to have your antivirus remove it for you), then I don't want you corrupting the same Internet we all populate.
These are the same individuals that love to click on those suspicious links in e-mails sent from unknown addresses, download files from the sketchiest of sites and love to keep their wireless router free from password protection.
And the Internet is now that much safer with these 210,000 blacklisted.