Knocking Infected PCs Off the Internet

nk497 writes "Malware could block your access to the internet – but in some cases by those on the right side of the security fence, who are deploying tactics such as blocked ports, letters in the mail and PCs quarantined from the net to combat the most damaging threats. The DNS Changer clean up saw some PCs prevented from accessing the web. Should such tactics be used more often to prevent malware from spreading — or is that taking security a step too far?"

Comments

Not just infected PCs...

[Howitzer86]

My local university does this. It's actually a pretty good idea if it's done right. Of course, the other side of the reality is that in addition to knocking infected computers off of the internet, my university also knocks off computers suspected of internet piracy. If you torrent anything on campus, even a legitimate download, you have to go to the Computing Services office to explain yourself and get it back online.

Our internet service providers are often our media providers. Comcast, AT&T, Time Warner, etc, are all interested in the idea of controlling your access to things like that, and if they're given free range to scan your computer and knock them off the internet - they will certainly look for evidence of torrenting as well.

Re:Not just infected PCs...

[girlintraining]

My local university does this. It's actually a pretty good idea if it's done right. Of course, the other side of the reality is that in addition to knocking infected computers off of the internet,

The problem is that detecting infected computers invariably requires some level of privacy intrusion, and possibly committing numerous felonies to probe the machine. That's why only large organizations do this; because they own all the machines and can dictate that policy. It's entirely another matter when the system isn't owned by you, and that's what's under discussion.

The internet was designed to allow free and unfettered communication between any and all nodes. On the internet, every IP address was a peer to every other. But then corporations came, and they started walling things off, messing up the protocols, and trying to convert the internet to an asymetrical content distribution network to push their wares. And then the government came in and offered protection to that corruption of the network. Then other countries joined with the same pattern of uptake; And now countries are starting wars or engaging in war-like acts with each other, all to answer the question: Who will control the internet?

Given that, the question of whether you should be able to attack and offline other nodes on the network, for whatever reason, comes down to whether you believe you should have the same rights on the network as groups, organizations, corporations, and governments. The internet itself doesn't care which side you take -- you're just another peer, and all the ideologies now warring over control of it are heaped on top of it.

If you're an old school hacker, the answer is obvious. If you're a 20-something, you probably accept intellectual property, and the idea that the internet can be owned (as a collective entity, as membership to, not as individual components).

As an old-schooler, I will only say this: The Native Americans believed land couldn't be owned. It's a fine ideal. But the other guys had guns, and it didn't matter who was right, only who was left.