Telus Puts A Stop To 'Modem Hijacking'

TheIonix writes "Telus, a major telco in Canada, decided to block long distance direct-dialed calls to four countries to help reduce dial-up 'modem hijacking'. The article explains: 'When the [dial-up] user downloads [certain malware programs], the downloaded file accesses software on their computer and causes the modem to dial phone numbers in foreign countries, resulting in long distance charges.' 4 countries were targeted: Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Nauru and Sao Tome. It is still possible to call to those countries with the operator assistance and the fees are waived. Now let's see if this nice idea will be followed by others."

Comments

When phone monopolies go corrupt...

[LostCluster]

Commonly, the way that these international calling scams work is that the monopoly carrier of the foriegn country charges obscenely high rates by most standards, and then the malware writer leases lines close to the point of entry so that the carrier doesn't have to do much work once the call enters their system. The malware writer is then given a piece of the international call toll for attracting the business.

In short, the phone companies in these developing nations are usually in on the scheme and profit just as much as the malware operators do from the increased call volume. They have no interest in stopping calls that way.

I wouldn't be opposed to giving such companies an international telecom death penality of simply not routing calls their way. If the only phone operator in a country can't properly keep scam artists out of their network, and furthermore aids such scam artists, that country really doesn't have much of a phone system to begin with... an electronic embargo might get the government there to get a clue.

Re:This is good

[grub]

Here's an idea: Don't hook up the phone line to the computer unless you plan on going online

Here's a better idea: download Spybot Search & Destroy and run it. Keep your system patched. Run AV software. Don't run unkown binaries (read:"crap off Kazaa")

Re:Nice Idea?

[Anonymous Coward]

1) Telus is a publicly traded company, not a government agency

2) This does not restrict your freedom in any way. You can still call Nauru etc, just not without opeator assistance.

Did the calls ever go to those countries at all?

[Animats]

The FTC has already acted in a porn dialer case. In that case, the calls were addressed to a country code in Madagascar, but were actually routed to London. There was another case where high-rate calls were routed to Canada.

Usually, these scams involve some marginal "billing service" provider. Integretel, eBillit, Payment One, and Verity International are some of the names that come up.

No, it the public heard

[metalhed77]

The CERT bulletin he's referring to was published in the Washington Post actually.