The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) warns Australians regarding "DNSChanger" (Domain Name System Changer) which is a malicious software that could affect millions of Internet users.

The DNSChanger is a malicious software that was installed by Estonian hackers. This malware would enable hackers to control the DNS, a system which lets users access their Internet and e-mail. Once the hackers could control this system, they would be able to conduct criminal activities including fraud. Both U.S. and Estonian authorities have been working on this problem since November, 2011.

The FBI is currently the ones that has temporary control of the infected servers so that affected users could still access the Internet. According to the Internet System Consortium, this temporary solution would end around 2 p.m. (AEST) on Monday (July 9). After this period, affected computers with the DNSChanger would not be able to access the Internet.

ACMA disclosed that at least 6,000 Australians would be affected by this malware. Bruce Matthews, the manager for e-Security at ACMA said that they have already warned Internet users of this theat since March. He also added that "We anticipate that many internet users will be confused about why they are unable to use internet services after this date and are likely to contact their ISP to query their lack of availability of internet services."

How to Check if you are Affected

Users can easily check if they have been affected by this malware threat. One of which is to visit this link: http://dns-ok.gov.au/ and follow the instructions given or click on this link for automatic detection.