DNS Changer Malware

Back in Nov2011, there was an FBI Sting called “Operation Ghost Click” that resulted in the arrest of six Estonian cyber-criminals that used malware known as DNSChanger that infected over 4.2 million computers. Despite their arrest several months ago, there are many computers that could still be infected. So in an effort to clean up the mess left behind by their internet fraud ring, the FBI is urging internet users to check their computers for any DNS Changer malware.

One major sign of the infection is a hijacked internet browser which redirects to other unintended websites, maybe even porn sites, via fake DNS servers. Once your computer is infected with this DNSChanger, it relies on these fake DNS servers to access “all” websites. If the DNS Changer Working Group (DCWG) were to shutdown all these fake DNS servers at once, millions of computers infected with this malware would lose their internet connection. As it was, the DCWG converted all but 350,000 of these fake DNS servers to temporary “clean” DNS servers, so nobody has been cut off from the internet as of yet.

The DCWG recently announced that these remaining servers will be shutdown on 09Jul2012. As a result, computers “still” infected with the DNSChanger malware will lose their internet connection. But checking to see if your computer is infected with any DNSChanger malware is relatively easy and quick, just visit DCWG’s website and find out in seconds.

To get started, visit http://www.dcwg.org, click “Detect” and, then on the next page, select the “URL” for your language:

Select the “URL” for your language:

After a few seconds, if your computer is clean, you will see an image like the one below:

If you are infected, go back and click the “Fix” icon for a list of products that may help you clean your computer. The problem at this point is, that malware like this is malicious by nature and may intentionally block you from using many of the well known reputable products for cleaning malware.

If you find removing DNSChanger is beyond your capability, call Gakidoo’s Computer Repair at (808) 676-1900

When you suspect you have a power problem, I highly suggest you disconnect the power cord from your computer until you get it repaired. Even if it powers-up now and then while some part is in the beginning stages of going bad, the consequences can be severe and you will be risking multiple hardware failures. Although somewhat rare, most electrical fires are started by prolonged use of faulty electrical/electronic equipment.

A Quick True Story

I was on a housecall several years ago with a customer that thought all their problems were caused by a virus. It was indeed infected, but they failed to tell me in advance, that their computer was also shutting off periodically. So not long after I powered-up the computer, I heard a loud pop and a blue flame shot out the back of the power supply. Since this computer was located very close to the curtains, you could imagine how catastrophic this could have been. So please don’t keep trying to use your computer once you know you are having problems powering it up. You should immediately disconnect it from the power source and get it fixed. Anyway, whatever your situation is, there are things you can do help prevent computer power problems from happening again.

Common Causes

Most computer power problems are due to a weak or bad power supply. Some manufacturers use stock power supplies that are just enough to do the job, but over time, they can no longer handle the load. If you were to put it on a simple Power Supply Tester, it would probably test good under the light load of the tester. If it tests bad, it is bad. But if it tests good, it may be good or weak and you will need to substitute it with a known good power supply to prove if the problem is the power supply, and/or the motherboard.

For a desktop computers, power supplies are fairly easy to replace. The problem is that about 80% of the computers I replace power supplies for, have hard drive errors from bad shutdowns. Many times, these errors are severe enough to corrupt your Windows installation, and fixing this will certainly take more time to fix than it took to replace the power supply. Because of this, I always give a conditional quote to repair power supply problems. Not to forget that almost every computer I work with is infected and the customer may or may not have even been aware. But power problems may also be caused by a bad motherboard, or a power switch. And then there are the problems that are customer induced. I had a customer that upgraded his motherboard and mounted it directly to the case without using any standoffs. It was shorting out in so many places that his new motherboard failed immediately.

Caution: If your computer works intermittently or not at all, don’t keep trying to see if the problem will go away by attempting to turn it on and off again and again. In fact, if you suspect a power problem, pull the cord immediately and call a PC Tech.

Power Supply

The Power Supply connects directly to the outlet in your home or office and at a minimum, should be connected to a UL Listed Surge Protector. Just know that a Surge Protector will only protect you when the power goes up, not down.

Better yet, connect it to an Un-interruptable Power Supply (UPS). That way, your computer will be protected from surges, power outages and fluctuations. With a UPS, your computer won’t even blink when you lose power, although you should shutdown anyway until power is stable, because battery backup power only lasts a few minutes depending on the size of your UPS.

Once reason for pre-mature power supply failure is a dirty power supply. Excessive dirt on the power supply fan and other components can cause excessive heat which is always bad for electronics, especially if it causes the fan to fail.

If you ever need to have your power supply replaced, get a higher wattage replacement and don’t go with a cheap brand unless you just can’t afford the good ones.

Motherboard

A computer power supply’s major load is the motherboard. A bad motherboard can cause a power problem all on its own, although sometimes it can be both a bad power supply and motherboard. Sometimes, you can spot a bad motherboard with a visual inspection if it has any bulged or leaky capacitors.

Power Button

Once in a rare while, a power switch may go bad, but what’s more likely to happen, is for the plastic spring behind the front panel power button to break. Ironically, this is usually caused because the computer was already having problems turning on, and the user thought pressing the switch harder would remedy the problem, only it usually just breaks the switch spring.

About the only “true” switch problems I see are when the switch gets gummed up

So in the end, my usual advice of keeping your computer clean and cool with clean and stable power will help to prevent you from having one of these show stopping computer failures.

Just a few details:

The next person who walks in to our shop in Waipahu “with their computer in hand” who has “Liked” our Facebook page already, will get a FREE Computer Repair (labor only). I will post when this happens, so please don’t call about this, just Like us on Facebook and show up. For those not needing a repair, PLEASE share this Post with all your Facebook friends on Oahu. If you help me spread the word, I will do this more often

But why is a bad shutdown bad for your computer? When you properly shut down your computer, Windows needs to write information it has been working with in memory back to the hard drive so it can be stored permanently. There could be data you were working on in some program, or maybe even some changes to the Windows registry because of a program that was recently installed or removed, changes to system settings, or even an automatic Windows Update that hasn’t been completely installed pending a restart. So bypassing a proper shutdown can leave you with lost data, or worse yet, a corrupted Windows registry, damage to system files or a bad hard drive.

The problem with bad shutdowns is that it “seems” to be okay to perform because the computer just simply turns off. All is quiet, with no sparking or alarms. But think of how your drive is constructed, with a platter spinning between 5400 – 10,000 rpm’s and a very sensitive read/write head hovering over it. During a proper shutdown, it will complete any final read/writes and then the head will park itself in safe landing zone. But during a bad shutdown, the head might come in contact with the platter which could damage the head, the platter and your data.

Good News and Bad News, and Maybe Some More Good News

Fortunately, you can get away with some bad shutdowns, but not always, and sometimes not even once! And remember, it doesn’t matter if it happens intentionally, accidentally or by a power outage, although you may be able to make a claim with the power company for the cost of repairs if it was their fault.

Bad Shutdowns and Grinding Gears

For those of us old enough to remember manual transmissions on a car (you know … a 5 speed). Anyway, if you didn’t clutch properly, you could grind some gears. It was definitely noticeable, a bit embarrassing and probably made you cringe. I would say that whenever you perform a bad shutdown from now on, that you liken it to grinding gears on your car! Maybe that way, more people would take this problem seriously before they make it worse.

The questions I keep getting though is this: “Then what I am supposed to do if it keeps freezing, am I supposed to just leave it on?”

If you had to sacrifice your computer to send out 1 important message to save the world, then do what you got to do. But if you still expect the sun to rise tomorrow and you want to use your computer again, then you need to address why your computer is freezing in the first place. As for the “first” time your computer freezes, I would say that you have to risk a bad shutdown after the first time it freezes.  But playing with the power switch beyond that may be futile if you expect it to freeze again. If I were able to fix computers just by turning them on and off, over and over, I could hire monkeys to do that which would do wonders for my bottom line. The fact is, that you need to have it looked at by a pro. At least we offer a no-obligation free PC Checkup at our shop in Waipahu.

Recent Experience

I just had a customer pickup a computer I replaced a motherboard for. Although, it had onboard video built-into the motherboard, this computer primarily used an add-on AGP video card. I demonstrated that the computer worked fine when the customer picked it up as usual. But when the customer got home, she could not get it to display any video. This sometimes happens if they handle the case in a way that makes the memory get loose, but in this case, I distinctly remembered this system having 2 video cards, so I was sure she was just connecting to the wrong video card.

Instead of calling me, she tried to fix it herself. She said she went out and got another monitor, and when that didn’t work, she got yet another monitor. Meanwhile, she still didn’t think of calling me. Anyway, if you are on your toes with what I am writing about, how do you think she shut the computer down if she couldn’t see any video? Well, she finally called me and then came in person. It turns out that she was connecting to the wrong video card and she was just shutting off the power, in other words .. bad shutdowns. So how many did she do? She said only “3″ times. I took that like a drunk driver telling the policeman that he only had a couple of drinks. Let’s see, her first monitor, the 2nd and then the 3rd. That is a minimum of 3 times. Not many people are this persistent in getting monitors so I’ll bet she tried several times on each monitor. I’ll bet the real number of bad shutdowns was at least 10.

Now I performed a lot of work on this computer above and beyond just changing the motherboard. I’m worried now that when she gets home to try connecting to the correct video card, that her system might not boot up due to errors on the hard drive from all the bad shutdowns, and possibly even a bad hard drive. For whatever reason she didn’t call me at first is moot now, but chances are very good that she will call me right away if it won’t boot up. Anyway, similar variations of this scenario happen a few times a week and fortunately, most of them turn out okay. I should find out in a few hours what happens with this situation.

The Bottom Line

Call your friendly neighborhood computer guy before you try to fix a computer yourself, especially if you are still under a labor warranty. I might bite a little bit, but that’s just how I am. But if you get in over your head and void your warranty and cause more problems, I might not be in the mood to work double-time for single pay any more than you would for your boss, especially if is not my fault. I guess I did rant a bit, so I’ll include this in my Tech rants category.

• Some people expect the repair to only take a few minutes so they want to wait
• Many assume their computer may not be repairable
• Others assume that we are going to wipe out their data during the repair
• The list goes on …

Anyway, we offer a Free PC Checkup when you walk into our shop in Waipahu. The initial checkup is non-invasive, but we can usually inform you about what is wrong, how bad your problem is, a reasonable accurate quote to repair it, and whether it is economical to repair or replace your computer … while you wait!

But occasionally, some people have multiple computer problems such as bad hardware and software that requires an invasive diagnostic to find out what all needs to be done. But our past experience usually serves us well and we can at least provide you with a “worst case” quote which is sometimes acceptable enough to the customer to go forward.

The Bottom Line: Do You Want It Good, Cheap or Fast?

The bottom line most people want to know about getting their computer repaired is how much and how fast? Anyway, the value of time and money means different things to different people. But since our time and skills enters into the equation, I have to ask if you want it done “Good, Cheap or Fast? (pick any two)”.

Good

The quality of our work is top-notch. Sure, anybody can say that, but I can prove it. You show me a computer that someone else just fixed, and I will show you what they missed. Most techs, do work that is usually “good enough”. Ironically, they themselves probably don’t know any better, and you may be led to believe it to be “superior” work. Computers are electronic devices and most computer technicians are not electronic technicians. I have been an electronic technician since 1980 and have seen first hand what the difference is.

Fast

This is a very relative term. For the average computer repair, our normal turn-around time is 2 – 3 business days in-shop. But if you have been putting off repairs for some time and your computer is really jacked-up, it may take longer. But occasionally, if you bring in your computer asap after the first signs of a problem, we can sometimes get it back to you the next day if you check it in early enough the day before.

Cheap

Our rates are in the upper-middle of the pack, but our rates include work that normally doesn’t get done by the other guys, work that enhances the performance and security of your computer. For many repairs, doing it right may not be cheap, but hopefully by now, you know that comparing one shop’s repair rate to another’s is like comparing apples to oranges. If you go too cheap, you will probably pay more in the long run.

My Own “I Need It Fast and Cheap” Story

We always prefer to do a good job as fast as we can, but this isn’t always the best or cheapest route and depends on your immediate needs. I’ll tell you a true quick story to make my point.

I slammed into the rear of a pickup truck after a ski trip at Mammoth in ’89, and I still have my ski-lift pass to remind me. Anyway, it snowed hard that day and we had to dig my car out of the snow before we could hit the road. I had snow cables on and was going slow. But just after leaving the parking lot, I had to go down a slight hill where a pick-up truck was stopped in front of me at the bottom of the hill. Once I started to slide on the snow covered ice, I knew I was going to rear-end him and honked my horn, but the truck didn’t move. No one was hurt, and I barely dinged his rear bumper, but my Honda was no longer drivable. It was Sunday, I had to work the next day and we had a 10 hour drive ahead of us. We definitely did not want to hang around for a week or so to get it repaired there, or worse, pay to have it towed 400 miles away. Anyway, all I hoped for was a quick fix that would allow us to limp home. Luckily, a local gas station got it drivable for under a hundred bucks! I still had a cracked windshield, a tweaked hood that had to be tied down, 1 headlight, and no power steering, but it drove fine otherwise. The person I hit even stayed with us and escorted us to the highway. As it was, we got home safely, got to work on time, and my insurance took care of the rest. Beth, if your reading this, I haven’t forgotten.

Do You Want it Fast and Cheap Also?

Anyway, I needed a quick-fix, one that was fast and cheap. It sure wasn’t a good fix, but I knew I wasn’t paying for a good fix. Fortunately, the “good” fix was paid for by my insurance, but it sure wasn’t fast. For computers, most people do want a “good” fix, but you’ll have to decide if you want it fast or cheap. But now and then, there are some that just want it fixed good enough so they can limp by and finish some project, after which they plan on buying a new computer. They would rather not have to put any more money into an old or slowly dying computer than they have to.

Whatever it is you need, just remember:

• Good Service Cheap won’t be Fast
• Good Service Fast won’t be Cheap
• Fast Service Cheap won’t be Good

Anyway, here at Gakidoo’s, we always prefer to perform “good repairs”, at a competitive price and reasonable turn-around time. In the end, I think you’ll appreciate what you paid for and will be happy for having a computer back that you can rely on again.

Most viruses are limited to spreading itself by either being transmitted or sent by an unwitting user or carried on a USB Drive or Disk from one system to another. But if a virus gets embedded somewhere on a network drive then anyone who opens or clicks on the infected file can end up getting infected as well.

Depending on your security software … or lack of, a virus infection can go undetected for several days to several weeks, and even indefinitely if you have expired, corrupted or no protection at all. But there are usually telltale signs that should make you suspicious of an infection if your computer has become very slow for no good reason, if your internet browser home page was changed, or it keeps automatically redirecting to some other webpage, otherwise known as a hijacked browser. If you are experiencing any or all of these symptoms, your computer is probably infected with a virus.

Aside from a “true” Virus infection, which accounts for only about 3% of all Malware infections, most computers are actually infested with a variety of other forms of Malware such as Trojans, Rootkits, Worms, Spyware, Adware, and Browser Helper Objects (BHOs). But the most common type of Malware infection these days are the Fake Alerts Programs, such as a Fake Antivirus Program. Sometimes, Viruses are used to spread these Fake Alert programs in the Virus payload.

Typical Symptoms of a Virus Infection

• Slow computer performance
• Windows randomly freezes
• Hijacked Internet Browser
• Randomly appearing popup windows, especially while surfing the internet
• Fake Alerts, when some program alerts you that your system has numerous Windows and registry errors or a variety of infections, and even redirects you to a website that prompts you to purchase their software to remove the infections.

Can I Fix It Myself?

The solution varies on a case-by-case basis depending on your operating system, severity of the infection, what security software you already have installed, whether it is updated or not, if the internet still works, and on-and-on. If you have several of these things going for you in your favor, you may be able to try and fix it yourself, otherwise you might want to save the trouble and chance of making it worse by having it professionally repaired.

From my experience, I can tell you that most people will choose the least expensive approach, whether or not they have any training or tools to do the job. They figure that they can Google for some freeware program and fix it themselves for free. Just beware that there are plenty of malicious links that may show up in your search results that may promote products claiming it can fix your problem, but in reality may just infect your computer further.

Also, many of the techniques PC Technicians use to clean computers involve much more than just running scans with some program. Many of these techniques require an advanced knowledge of Windows and its built-in utilities such as the Registry.

Rather than trying to repair your system with one of the free basic antivirus programs out there, I suggest you at least download and install a free trial version of a top-tier antivirus program such as an ESET Nod32 or Smart Security. That will at least buy you some time before you decide if you want to ultimately go with the freeware method. Then I would follow-up with a good antispyware program such as SUPERAntiSpyware or MalwareBytes.

Prevention

For detailed information about Virus and Spyware Prevention, visit our sister website below.

http://spywarepreventionguy.com

Note: Some infections create registry entries that may prevent you from installing any antivirus or antispyware software from known vendors, and may even render the one you already have unusable. If your computer system is infected with unwanted Viruses, Spyware, Trojan Horse, Malware, Worm, Rootkit, Keylogger or Adware, and you would like to have one of our Virus Removal Specialists from Gakidoo’s Computer Repair to clean and optimize your computer, please give us a call at the number below.

Call (808) 676-1900