If You Use a PC, the FBI Has a Warning for You

Back to article

Comments

Another reason to use a condom.

Sean on April 23, 2012 at 6:12 AM

Another reason to use OpenDNS.

PaulBarwick on April 23, 2012 at 6:13 AM

Another reason to not get over it already.

Matt from Denver on April 23, 2012 at 6:23 AM

If it's from the FBI, why isn't it a .gov url? I don't trust this.

erasedk on April 23, 2012 at 6:33 AM

I think Eli has been scammed. I'd rather be hacked than use mac.

DeepFriedBananaBits on April 23, 2012 at 6:37 AM

@ Eli
My cousin is the prince of a small nation and needs to hide his royal treasury from his corrupt advisers. If you send him your bank info, he'll cut you in on a bit of the action.

DeepFriedBananaBits on April 23, 2012 at 6:47 AM

If I have this virus I probably got it right here on the Stranger in between pop-up ads.

bigg on April 23, 2012 at 6:48 AM

@6 that won't work. Apple users are 100% always without a doubt protected from viruses. This also includes phishing somehow.

Little Red Ryan Hood on April 23, 2012 at 6:53 AM

So, let me see if I have this right. The FBI has been running the internet with it's servers and now wants us all to go to their website and download something from them. I'm starting to see why so many people are paranoid about the government.

Vince on April 23, 2012 at 6:58 AM

@9
Not really.
The FBI wanted to take down a botnet (surprising in itself).
The FBI realized that if it did that, it would cripple a lot of home users.
So the FBI arranged to have servers set up that would duplicate a specific function of the servers that they were going to take down.
The FBI expected that all the infected home computers would be quickly cleaned.
The FBI has realized how wrong that expectation was as many are still infected.
The FBI has decided to cut off the servers it set up any way.

Go here http://www.dns-ok.us to see if you are infected.

The FBI could make this a lot easier on everyone by telling the ISP's which machines on their networks are infected. But they do not appear to be doing that. Instead they're doing it in the fucking most stupid way possible.

fairly.unbalanced on April 23, 2012 at 7:06 AM

For those FireFox users, NoScript (http://noscript.net/) does wonders for stopping all sorts of annoying and/or malicious code being executed on the net. Insert disclaimer about how nothing is 100% foolproof, etc, etc.

Unfortunately there is no FireFox add-on for stupidity.

Pithy Name on April 23, 2012 at 7:24 AM

Another reason to use Linux.

pox on April 23, 2012 at 7:24 AM

Expect phone calls from Gran and/or the parents July 10.

sloegin on April 23, 2012 at 7:50 AM

@4 "a website run by its security partner"

Meags on April 23, 2012 at 7:52 AM

I don' t think the Fed's should ever step in and become someone's ISP with out notice. The people who have the virus need to get savvy, or pay the price.

I'm assuming it's the same group of people who email about new work from home opportunities and that it's okay to eat eggs again (a follow up to their "DON'T EAT EGGS!" email from a month ago).

GlamB0t on April 23, 2012 at 8:11 AM

Wonder why the feds don't just redirect all traffic to the antivirus info page. Either people will get the idea or will become paranoid and clean their computers. win win

Tawnos on April 23, 2012 at 8:20 AM

Here's another link to the test site:
http://www.dns-ok.us/

slugbiker on April 23, 2012 at 8:50 AM

the fbi also has links for folks outside the US:
https://forms.fbi.gov/check-to-see-if-yo…

slugbiker on April 23, 2012 at 8:51 AM

http://www.dcwg.org had a server too busy message, and on a second attempt the page loaded (basic text) with broken graphics. LOL.

starsandgarters on April 23, 2012 at 9:03 AM

Macs are PCs. You mean, another reason to not use old versions of IE or another reason to not be stupid?

Devin on April 23, 2012 at 9:07 AM

Macs get viruses too. Flashback has been in the news just this week, with over 600,000 infections. Like most PC viruses it gets in via Flash, Javascript or Java with the cooperation of fooled users. There's a fix if you download the update, which many Mac users never do because they think they're immune.

Fnarf on April 23, 2012 at 9:25 AM

Thank you for this information. I use Linux, but most of the people I know do not, so this will be helpful to them.

malcolmxy on April 23, 2012 at 9:41 AM

So.....you think perhaps government agencies, private corporations and certain individuals haven't been doing the same thing for years with those anonymizers?

sgt_doom on April 23, 2012 at 10:36 AM

@13, this "gran" just checked her computer via @10's site. Enough with the age-related slams.

sarah70 on April 23, 2012 at 10:37 AM

Oh, come on, it's not like the NSA admitted they already have all your emails and tweets in the US, or that the SPD spy drone can actually hack your wireless connection.

Oh, wait.

Will in Seattle on April 23, 2012 at 10:41 AM

@23 for the I Remember The Shack In Yakima In The 80s Win!

Will in Seattle on April 23, 2012 at 10:41 AM

@16 has it right.

madcap on April 23, 2012 at 10:48 AM

From the Seattle Times/AP story: "FBI officials said they organized an unusual system to avoid any appearance of government intrusion into the Internet or private computers."

Good job! The unusual system that they set up to prevent the "appearance of government intrusion" was a couple of DNS servers that would reasonably be described as actual government intrusion.

Here's a better headline "Federal Judge authorizes FBI and security company to secretly route the web traffic of over half a million private computers for 8 months. Affected users not notified of vulnerable systems".

Given the lack of detail in the story, I went with "route the web traffic", but maybe the facts actually support "monitor the web traffic"?

Hopefully the AP did actually do some research on the story, because it does seem like a scam.

on April 23, 2012 at 11:05 AM

I checked around. This seems true. So I checked my computer. Not infected. Right on.

ScienceNerd on April 23, 2012 at 11:09 AM

The FBI is hosting DNS, not acting as an ISP. It's a pretty big difference. The article makes it sound like people are dialing into the scammer to connect to the internet, but really just the servers they were using to turn URLs into IP addresses were shady.

Volo on April 23, 2012 at 11:22 AM

@30: yes, it's a difference, but your use of the word "just" makes it sound like you think controlling a user's DNS server is no big deal. It's a big deal.

on April 23, 2012 at 11:32 AM

A slight refinement comment 2 (if I understand correctly):

OpenDNS would have reduced the likelihood of infection but once infected, you'd no longer be using OpenDNS.

david on April 23, 2012 at 12:05 PM

@25, @26: Dunning-Kruger in action again.

Fnarf on April 23, 2012 at 12:16 PM

@ Fnarf, Apple pushes updates (or at least update notices) on a regular basis, as does Firefox. Still, one needs to run antivirus scans on a regular basis.

Matt from Denver on April 23, 2012 at 12:25 PM

@25 SPD spy drone? Is this merely a conspiracy theory or would you care to share some supporting evidence?

GlibReaper on April 23, 2012 at 12:39 PM

@35, Will doesn't do supporting evidence.

@34, update notices are made to be ignored. I guarantee that about 75% of the computers out there, Mac and PC, have update notifications going back to when the computer was new that the user has never even wondered about.

Firefox does it right, finally -- they update you without asking.

Fnarf on April 23, 2012 at 12:50 PM

Maybe on the PC. I still have to click on the button labelled "update firefox," and have the option of clicking "ask later" instead.

Matt from Denver on April 23, 2012 at 1:12 PM

really touching stuff, pulitzer worthy.

Sherlock Homeboy 3008 on April 23, 2012 at 1:23 PM

Another reason to read books.

butterw on April 23, 2012 at 1:24 PM

@36 such devices exist, I just hadn't heard of SPD operating one. They could just park an unmarked car within range of a network they cared to monitor so it seems superfluous.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear the NSA/FBI had wireless monitoring drones.

GlibReaper on April 23, 2012 at 1:28 PM

"The average user would open up Internet Explorer and get `page not found' and think the Internet is broken."

And what's the downside?

sirkowski on April 23, 2012 at 3:15 PM

Windows will go away one day and Internet Explorer will disappear the way of Netscape Navigator.

michijo on April 26, 2012 at 6:43 PM

If You Use a PC, the FBI Has a Warning for You

Comments

Please wait...

Add a comment

Preview

Editors' Picks

All Aboard! Station Space Coming to King Street Station

How Much Does Zoë Kravitz Pay for Her Fictional Seattle Loft?

Council Delivers on Promise Not to Please Everyone in Budget

Seattle Has Lost the Battle Against Air Conditioning

Fire Island Is a Gorgeous Gay Throwback

City Leaders Fight over Policing Pirates

Support The Stranger

Comments

Please wait...

Add a comment

Preview

Editors' Picks

Just Can't Get Enough?

Sign up for our newsletter for news recaps, updates, and more!