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Australian ISPs To Disconnect Botnet "Zombies"
jibjibjib writes "Some of Australia's largest ISPs are preparing an industry code of conduct to identify and respond to users with botnet-infected computers. The Internet Industry Association, made up of over 200 ISPs and technology companies, is preparing the code in response to an ultimatum from the federal government.
ISPs will try to contact the user, slow down their connection, and ultimately terminate the connection if the user refuses to fix the problem. It is hoped that this will reduce the growth of botnets in Australia, which had the world's third-highest rate of new 'zombies' (behind the US and China)."
Will be the next "botnet" they'll fix.
I'd rather not have my ISP decide what is a "virus" or "inappropriate communications" thank you. If the users are consuming too much bandwidth then disconnect them on those grounds, but please don't set this precedent.
Its not like everyone knows how to (and in some cases cannot afford to hire someone to) remove botnets from their machine. I hope the ISPs will provide this kind of support as part of standard service before they consider disconnecting users...
if the user refuses to fix the problem
The users who are likely to be infected by a bot are the least likely to be able to "fix the problem".
âoeAny society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
Quit trying to speak for the whole rest of the world. You are not qualifyied.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Actually, it's more like your phone company disconnecting you for repeatedly making prank calls.
Which, in fact, they will.
If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
Seriously? This needed to be done for all countries 10 years ago.
Assuming you trust them to stop at botnets and not include p2p, vpn, uunet, private mail servers out of the country, list servers, and other legitimate traffic.
Buy a computer and/or a supposedly secure operating system, and then, unless the customer proactively protects against security breaches, they won't be allowed on the internet. Pardon me, but isn't protection against security breaches the OPERATING SYSTEM'S JOB???
> Of course I'm OK if that software isn't particularly Mac compatible ;)
So you wouldn't mind being required to switch to Microsoft Windows 7? Because that is what your proposal would lead to.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
Goog Idea. But will end up with "Give discount for anyone who installs a closed-source, windows-only Punkbuster-lookalike"
bickerdyke
everyone talks about their rights, but few speak up about their responsibilities
if people don't live up to their responsibilities, they lose their rights. not as a matter of some government mandate, but as a simple logical, natural consequence of ruining things- the internet, safe roads, a healthy economy, etc., for other people
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
...will easily be able to trick people into giving personal information (ie account numbers, CC numbers, ect.)
I don't know why the emails would ask for personal information. I can however see this as a great opportunity for virus emails: The government has noticed your computer is infected and sending out spams. Now run this attached executable to remove it.
Botnet - Collection of computers using large amount of bandwidth.
Largest Botnet - BitTorrent
ISP - "Job's a good 'un lads, let's go home."
-- Lattyware (www.lattyware.co.uk)
Sounds like another case of politicians regulating something they don't understand. Define botnet.
ISPs should be disconnecting zombied machines. The catch is they need a test which catches most zombie machines while not catching any non-zombies, and most ISPs are neither competent enough nor interested enough to do so. If their procedure has systemic problems which disconnects non-zombies, then the cure is worse than the disease.
I've never heard people suggest that before, but the idea of "using open source = discount on your internet bill" is a good idea.
Do it in a very simple way: if you're not running windows or OSX, you get a 5% discount your bill. Some might differ on whether to put OSX in the "Do not run" category.
The rest is too discriminatory and too extreme.
There are people out there who are able to configure Windows to be as secure as *Nix or Mac OS. Why penalize them? Penalize the retards who run Windows/*nix/Mac OS as administrator. Penalize the retards who are infected with the botnet zombie 'du jour'. Penalize the retards who mindlessly click on every 'OMGZ YOU WIN IPOD TOUCH CLICK HERE PLZ!111!!!!!!oneoneeleventy!~one!' banners.
Don't disconnect them. First, only block the ports being abused. If that doesn't work, confine them to a "walled garden" that tells them who to call and fix the problem. Then when the do call, help them fix the problem.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Oh god, no. This is a very very bad idea. We do not need to have our PC's "certified" by a Ministry, Department, or any 3rd party for that matter. Yes, they have done that for cars for pollution testing but it makes no sense for computers.
Do you seriously want some twithead bureaucrat telling you what a "safe" PC is and what a "dangerous" PC is?
I want you to choose a number from 1 to 60. This number represents the amount of seconds before Linux (or some other disliked-by-those-in-power application) goes onto the "dangerous" list. This number also represents how many days you have to install a properly maintained OS, such as those produced by Microsoft, onto your PC. Within 10 days, please bring us proof that you have made the correct repairs and we will waive your fine. Oh, but court costs are 200 euro. Thank you, drive through.
I am deadly serious when I say this: This is one of the all-time worst ideas I have ever read on Slashdot.