Warning: Last chance to remove virus before world wide web outage
At 4pm today, the FBI will shut down a temporary server system installed to give people time to clear up their computers infected with the "DNS Changer" or "Trojan" virus.
Late last year the FBI set up the surrogate server after shutting down a global internet advertising scam run by an Estonian crime ring.
The FBI could not immediately shut down the infected servers because that would have cut all internet access for computer owners.
It is estimated that the virus has infected around six million computers across the world since 2007.
The virus changes a computer's Domain Name System (DNS) settings to point to rogue servers, and redirects the web browsers of victims from sites they wanted to visit to ones controlled by the crime ring.
InternetNZ chief executive Vikram Kumar says Google and Facebook have been among several websites detecting and warning people if their computers were infected.
"They would flash up a warning saying your computer has been infected, and would tell you how to treat the virus," Kumar said
"However, there are nearly a thousand people still infected in New Zealand, despite all of the messages."
The original deadline was March of this year but it was extended until July as there were still 450,000 active infections globally at that time.
The FBI has issued a warning that hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide will simultaneously lose access to the internet at 4pm today, unless their owners check for the virus.
Users can check if their computer is affected by clicking here.
-With One News