DNSChanger: How to find it and how to fix it

Time is running out for computers running the DNSChanger malware, with the FBI planning to cut infected machines off from the internet teat come Monday, but how do you know if your system is at risk? The malware reroutes internet traffic through compromised servers, opening systems up to the dangers of keylogging, pushing fake software and products, and otherwise manipulating the web experience. Thankfully, checking out the status of your computer isn't hard.

According to the DNSChanger Working Group established to address the problem, there are still a huge number of computers showing signs of badly routed DNS. The court order allowing the FBI to shut down the fake DNS servers on Monday will potentially mean hundreds of thousands of systems are left unable to look up sites.

Actually finding out whether you're infected is a simple matter of visiting a checking site. Go to dns-ok.us in your browser, and if the background is green then your computer's DNS settings are good. If it's red, however, then you will need to go through some clean-up steps.

There's a list of tools here, each of which should get your computer up and running properly again. Microsoft has one such tool, as do the main anti-virus vendors such as McAfee and Norton. It's a good idea to do a backup of files and personal data beforehand, just in case, but the process should – now that the workings of DNSChanger are broadly understood – be simple.