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Malware May Knock Thousands Off Internet On Monday

WASHINGTON (AP) - A warning from Internet service providers and the FBI: Your Web surfing could run completely aground on Monday if your computer is infected with a certain type of malware.

Despite repeated alerts, it's estimated that about 64,000 computers in the United States are still infected more than a year after the malicious software was unleashed.

The warnings about the Internet problem have been splashed across Facebook and Google. Internet service providers have sent notices, and the FBI set up a special website.

But tens of thousands of Americans may still lose their Internet service Monday unless they do a quick check of their computers for malware that could have taken over their machines more than a year ago.

Despite repeated alerts, the number of computers that are probably infected is more than 277,000 worldwide, down from about 360,000 in April. Of those still infected, the FBI believes that about 64,000 are in the United States.

Users whose computers are still infected Monday will lose their ability to go online, and they will have to call their Internet service providers for help.

To check whether a computer is infected, users can visit a website run by the group brought in by the FBI: http://www.dcwg.org

The site includes links to respected commercial sites that will run a quick check on the computer, and it also lays out detailed instructions if users want to actually check the computer themselves.

For more from FBI.gov on malware, click here

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