Alureon malware threatens an ‘internet blackout’

Alureon malware threatens an ‘internet blackout’According to several media reports, the Alureon malware might cause a massive ‘internet blackout’ on Monday preventing a quarter-million computer users from accessing the internet.

The Alureon malware is at the heart of hacking scam, which was scrapped by the authorities in the US in November, 2011. However, experts say that only a small number of users are at the risk of an internet blockage.

It is believed that the risk posed by Alureon malware is much smaller than that from other prevalent viruses such as Zeus and SpyEye that affect millions of computers around the world. Estimates show that 245,000 computers worldwide are still affected by Alureon and other linked virus softwares.

The Alureon malware was designed to redirect Internet traffic through rogue DNS servers operated by illegal entities, US investigators had found. The US authorities bused the spamming network but kept the servers running while victim’s computers were repaired, as per the instructions of a federal judge in New York.

The temporary servers will be shut down on Monday, indicating that the computers that have not been fixed will not be able to connect to the internet.