WASHINGTON, July 6: Tens of thousands of computer users around the world infected with malware last year may lose their internet access on Monday with the expiration of a fix by US authorities, security experts say.

The problem stems from malware known as DNS Changer, which was created by cyber-criminals to redirect internet traffic by hijacking the domain name systems of web browsers.

The ring behind the DNS Changer virus, discovered in 2007, was shut down last year by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Estonian police and other law-enforcement agencies.

Because the virus controlled so much web traffic, authorities obtained a court order to allow the FBI to operate replacement servers which allow traffic to flow normally, even from infected computers.

But that order expires on Monday, when experts say infected computers will face an `internet doomsday’. The FBI, Facebook, Google, internet service providers and security firms have been scrambling to warn users about the problem and direct them to fixes.

According to a working group set up by experts, more than 300,000 computers remained infected as of June 11.—AFP