In less than 24 hours, more than 64,000 Internet users could find themselves staring at a blank screen due to malware.
Windows and Mac users, heed this advice: If you haven’t checked to see if your computer is infected, you can do so by clicking here.
If your computer is clean, you'll get a big green image. If it's not, you'll get a red screen.
Seeing red? Worry not.
Internet service providers are joining the battle by providing their customers with help pages and customer-service lines to get you a new DNS address and root out the malware to fix the problem.
If by Monday you can’t read this online, call your Internet service provider and get some help — but be patient, many other users may be in the same boat.
If your computer is infected, the process may take more than just a call.
The DNS Changer Working Group suggests backing up your computer and having you or a computer professional follow malware cleanup guides that may include reformatting the computer's hard drive and reinstalling the operating system and applications.
The malware problem is a result of a large online advertising scam that took over more than 4 million computers around the world. When the FBI went in to shut down the scheme, the agency realized that turning off the malicious servers would cause infected computers to lose access to the Internet. So the FBI set up two other servers, which have been connecting infected users to the Internet, but they will be shut down at 12:01 a.m. EDT Monday.
The FBI estimates that more than 250,000 computers may be infected worldwide, the Associated Press reported.
