FTC Recommends ISPs Disconnect Spam Zombies

Mike Markley writes "CNN is carrying a story about the the FTC's plans and concerns around spam zombies. They say they will be identifying such zombie hosts and notifying ISPs, and are recommending that the ISPs disconnect indicated users. There's also a recommendation likely to raise the ire of the geekier sorts: that ISPs only permit users to send mail through their own servers (presumably by blocking port 25 outbound)." From the article: "Law enforcers in 25 other countries, from Bulgaria to Peru, are also participating in the campaign, the FTC said. Absent from the list of cooperating countries was China, where experts say rapid growth and a relative lack of technical sophistication have led to a large number of zombie computers."

Comments

Re:What about VOIP/911 services?

[winkydink]

You're betting on your ISP's reliability to get you through in an emergency? Perhaps natural selection is making a comeback.

Re:Spam Zombies?

[Rei]

dear brain owner,

compliments of the season to you. I am Barrister Urrrrrrrrrrrr Guurrrrrrrr. I represent Rrrrrrrr Rrrrrrrrrr, son of the late gen. Rrrrrrr Urrrrrrrgh, who was the former military head of state in Transylvania. he died in 1312. since his death, the family has been losing a lot of money due to vindictive church officials who are bent on dealing with the family. based on this therefore, the family has asked me to seek for a foreign partner who can work with us as to move out the total sum of us$75,000,000.00 ( seventy five million united states dollars ) in gold, presently in their possession. this money was of course, acquired by the late president and is now kept secretly by the family. the Swiss government froze all the accounts of the family in Switzerland in 1571, and some other countries would soon follow to do the same. This bid by some government officials to deal with this family has made it necessary that we seek your assistance in receiving this money and in investing it on behalf of the family.

This must be a joint venture transaction and we must all work together. since this money is very heavy, extra security measures have been taken to protect it from theft or seizure, pending when agreement is reached on when and how to move it into any of your nominated bank accounts. please contact me so we can arrange to meet you at a graveyard of your convenience in the Transylvania area to complete the transaction. as it is in a rather large box, please bring a chainsaw to assist in cutting it open.

Note: Please send your reply through (Urrrrrrrrrrrr.Guurrrrrrrr@sco.com)

Re:Go ahead, block 25

[Bombcar]

You'll then see trojans that say, "Call your ISP and ask them to unblock port 25 to see hot naked networks!"

Bet your last dollar on it.