ISPs Still Ignoring Zombie BotnetsTo the continued detriment of their customers... ( old news - 05:12PM Monday Sep 10 2007) tags: business · security · Verizon Online DSL · Cox HSIDespite the ever-growing menace of phishing scams and botnets, many broadband ISPs continue to ignore infected "zombie" PC activity on their networks because doing nothing doesn't cost very much. Even when their own customers stand to lose thousands in scams, ISPs often simply don't respond to abuse department alerts. Talking grandmothers through cleaning their infected Dells is an arduous and expensive task, so many ISPs simply don't bother and eat the bandwidth costs incurred. The result is the continued operation of botnets used for DDoS attacks or spam, the hosting of phishing websites, identity theft, or worse. Trend Micro maintains a network reputation ranking list that continually tracks the most spam-apathetic operators. Verizon has had a consistent showing at the top of the list, but as the Register notes, Cox is the polar opposite. In part because they started quarantining infected customers a few years back: "In 2004, Cox put about 22,500 customers into one of these padded rooms, compared with 8,000 in 2005 and 2,000 last year. The sharp decline is largely the result of mechanisms Cox has put in place that prevent many Trojans from being able to phone home to command and control servers. Cox only disconnects customers whose infections manifest in abusive behavior." Last year we discussed such "walled gardens" with a network engineer for Canadian cable provider Cogeco. The practice limits the Internet access of an infected customer -- only allowing access to ISP-hosted cleanup tutorials, patches and other resources. The practice lowers an ISP's call volume (as opposed to just cutting them off) while protecting other users on the network.
Related:- Verizon Security Service Doesn't Detect Partner Spyware?
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- Unions Ramp Up Opposition To Verizon/Frontier Deal
- FiOS Growth Slows
- FiOS Deployment Slowing?
- Hackable Time Warner Cable Modems Still Hackable?
- Cox Raising TV, Video Prices
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tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO
clubs:
2 edits | Americans? The only American ISP is roadrunner (nystate)? I'm kinda surprised by that... Of course, the rest of the list is made up of developing countries, so that's not a surprise at all. | |
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GoodDog
join:2000-07-03
Goshen, NY | Re: Americans? Look at number 3 | |
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Jerm
join:2000-04-10
Richland, WA
| So you missed VERIZON at #3 there? I can just imagine it now:
"Hello Welcome to Verizon Customer Service how may I help you?"
"My PeeCee isn't able to connect to teh intarweb, I see a page that says I have a been disconnected due to a trojan, spyware, or other botnet activity ... WHY DOESNT MY INTERNET WORK - TURN IT BACK ON PLEASE!"
"Well Sir your port has been disabled because you've been sending out spam and your computer appears to have been compromised in a zombie botnet attack"
"I dun care what you say, I have no zombies here, they're only in Movies - I just want checked my d*mn email now TURN ME BACK ON NOW!"
... (rinse, repeat 10x)
Finally the user gives up - "Im going to Comcast, forget you Verizon, my zombie PC is invincible!" | |
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Krispy
Premium,VIP
join:2001-12-11
the stix
| Re: So you missed VERIZON at #3 there? said by Jerm  :I can just imagine it now: "Hello Welcome to Verizon Customer Service how may I help you?" "My PeeCee isn't able to connect to teh intarweb, I see a page that says I have a been disconnected due to a trojan, spyware, or other botnet activity ... WHY DOESNT MY INTERNET WORK - TURN IT BACK ON PLEASE!" "Well Sir your port has been disabled because you've been sending out spam and your computer appears to have been compromised in a zombie botnet attack" "I dun care what you say, I have no zombies here, they're only in Movies - I just want checked my d*mn email now TURN ME BACK ON NOW!" ... (rinse, repeat 10x) Finally the user gives up - "Im going to Comcast, forget you Verizon, my zombie PC is invincible!" You've worked in an abuse dept I see 
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you can lead a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink...you can put a man through school but you cannot make him think --ben harper
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Doctor Four
My other vehicle is a TARDIS
Premium
join:2000-09-05
Dallas, TX
 ·AT&T U-Verse
1 edit | Re: So you missed VERIZON at #3 there? said by Krispy :You've worked in an abuse dept I see His avatar probably also describes what some ISP
abuse departments would like to do with their clueless,
click on everything, got-brains?, spam spewing zombie
customers, or at least their machines.
Someone in one of the forums mentioned that if human
stupidity were a fuel that could be burned, this planet
would shine brighter than the Sun.
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"The trouble with computers, of course, is that they are very sophisticated idiots." - Doctor Who (from Robot)
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antdude
A Ninja Ant
Premium,VIP
join:2001-03-25
| said by Jerm :I can just imagine it now: "Hello Welcome to Verizon Customer Service how may I help you?" "My PeeCee isn't able to connect to teh intarweb, I see a page that says I have a been disconnected due to a trojan, spyware, or other botnet activity ... WHY DOESNT MY INTERNET WORK - TURN IT BACK ON PLEASE!" "Well Sir your port has been disabled because you've been sending out spam and your computer appears to have been compromised in a zombie botnet attack" "I dun care what you say, I have no zombies here, they're only in Movies - I just want checked my d*mn email now TURN ME BACK ON NOW!" ... (rinse, repeat 10x) Finally the user gives up - "Im going to Comcast, forget you Verizon, my zombie PC is invincible!" Then Verizon shuts the customer down too? 
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Ant @ The Ant Farm: »antfarm.ma.cx ... Please do not IM/e-mail me for technical support. Use the forum (I check often)! Disclaimer: The views expressed in this posting are mine, and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer. | |
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81399672
Premium
join:2006-05-17
Los Angeles, CA
| Re: So you missed VERIZON at #3 there? said by antdude :said by Jerm :I can just imagine it now: "Hello Welcome to Verizon Customer Service how may I help you?" "My PeeCee isn't able to connect to teh intarweb, I see a page that says I have a been disconnected due to a trojan, spyware, or other botnet activity ... WHY DOESNT MY INTERNET WORK - TURN IT BACK ON PLEASE!" "Well Sir your port has been disabled because you've been sending out spam and your computer appears to have been compromised in a zombie botnet attack" "I dun care what you say, I have no zombies here, they're only in Movies - I just want checked my d*mn email now TURN ME BACK ON NOW!" ... (rinse, repeat 10x) Finally the user gives up - "Im going to Comcast, forget you Verizon, my zombie PC is invincible!" Then Verizon shuts the customer down too? 1) you mean comcast and 2) a lot will not do anything. At&t will not do anything | |
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antdude
A Ninja Ant
Premium,VIP
join:2001-03-25
| Re: So you missed VERIZON at #3 there? said by 81399672 :said by antdude :said by Jerm :I can just imagine it now: "Hello Welcome to Verizon Customer Service how may I help you?" "My PeeCee isn't able to connect to teh intarweb, I see a page that says I have a been disconnected due to a trojan, spyware, or other botnet activity ... WHY DOESNT MY INTERNET WORK - TURN IT BACK ON PLEASE!" "Well Sir your port has been disabled because you've been sending out spam and your computer appears to have been compromised in a zombie botnet attack" "I dun care what you say, I have no zombies here, they're only in Movies - I just want checked my d*mn email now TURN ME BACK ON NOW!" ... (rinse, repeat 10x) Finally the user gives up - "Im going to Comcast, forget you Verizon, my zombie PC is invincible!" Then Verizon shuts the customer down too? 1) you mean comcast and 2) a lot will not do anything. At&t will not do anything DOH! I meant Comcast. I am not fully awake! 
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Ant @ The Ant Farm: »antfarm.ma.cx ... Please do not IM/e-mail me for technical support. Use the forum (I check often)! Disclaimer: The views expressed in this posting are mine, and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer. | |
| | 
GOLFnSUN
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Comcast
3 edits | Re: Americans? The best US ISP appears to be Time Warner Cable which is 96 out of 100 on the list, but when you add in all their Roadrunner entries they stink. Comcast doesn't initially look that bad either, but they are too. They are on the list multiple times with multiple unique ASN identifiers.
So for example when you total up all their entries,
Verizon 2 billion spam msgs/day
TW/RR 1 billion/day
Comcast 626 million/day
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Internet News
My BLOG
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81399672
Premium
join:2006-05-17
Los Angeles, CA | Re: Americans? I am surprised by your comment, you usually defend them regardless of what they do or not do
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i am not a lawyer but I do play one on the internet | |
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joako
Premium
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null | And the citizens of South & Central American aren't Americans?? | |
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GOLFnSUN
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
| Re: Americans? said by joako :And the citizens of South & Central American aren't Americans?? Not in the generally accepted use of the term they aren't.
Why someone feels obligated to point it out every time a poster says Americans(when everyone knows that means people in the USA) is beyond me.
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Internet News
My BLOG
My Web Page | |
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cork1958
Cork
join:2000-02-26
Fruitport, MI
 ·Verizon Online DSL
·Charter Pipeline
2 edits | Re: Americans? said by GOLFnSUN :said by joako :And the citizens of South & Central American aren't Americans?? Not in the generally accepted use of the term they aren't. Why someone feels obligated to point it out every time a poster says Americans(when everyone knows that means people in the USA) is beyond me. Isn't that what these forums and all others are all about, to either show your intelligence, or ignorance, or both, if you're REALLY talented?!! 
It's not just Americans, as you're using the term, but you see it on any typo somebody makes, or some other ridiculously simple error that ANYBODY would/should realize was just an oops!! | |
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tapeloop
1959. I try to kick the ball. I miss.
Premium
join:2004-06-27
Airstrip One
| said by joako :And the citizens of South & Central American aren't Americans?? Yeah, but they're not U.S. Americans.
Long live Miss Teen S.C....
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I cannot stand demagoguery. If you disagree with my stance, you're a blithering twit. You're not a twit, are you? | |
| margaf77
join:2000-12-22
Bayonne, NJ | Cablevision walls them off too I worked for CV a few years back and they put people into a walled garden if they were spewing garbage. When they called they let them know that the computer had to be cleaned and once they did it they would be allowed back on. | |
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cableties
Premium
join:2005-01-27 | Apathy... Maybe when ISP CEOs have CSOs that get a budget to hire staff and resources to implement a policy and enforce it...until then...they placate it as "not our problem". | |
| | margaf77
join:2000-12-22
Bayonne, NJ
·Optimum Online
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: Apathy... said by cableties :Maybe when ISP CEOs have CSOs that get a budget to hire staff and resources to implement a policy and enforce it...until then...they placate it as "not our problem". Its not hard, put the detection mechanism in place, wall them off when it triggers and once they call the #, tell them they have to get their PC cleaned. Its not an ISPs responsibility to help clean it. | |
| | moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL
| said by cableties :Maybe when ISP CEOs have CSOs that get a budget to hire staff and resources to implement a policy and enforce it...until then...they placate it as "not our problem". Maybe take them out of the "they are using too much bandwidth" department. | |
| robertfl
Premium
join:2005-10-10
Mary Esther, FL
 ·Cox VOIP
| End User Most of this stuff comes from end user's PC's sending it. Why ISP's should go to great lengths to educate about PC security.
Even though it's not their primary concern, if they want to stop (or reduce) spam, some action needs to be taken.
-Rob | |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast
| Re: End User said by robertfl :Most of this stuff comes from end user's PC's sending it. Why ISP's should go to great lengths to educate about PC security. Even though it's not their primary concern, if they want to stop (or reduce) spam, some action needs to be taken. -Rob ISPs shouldn't have to go to great lengths to educate their users, but they should go to great lengths to keep their network clean. | |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast
| Re: End User said by Dennis :I'm just saying....on one hand you've got people wondering why ISP's don't put customers in walled gardens (ACL's), and then on the other hand you've got people who go batshit crazy when you block port 25 or 135 for similar reasons. I think Comcast really has found the middle ground here. In Comcast's case, they block port 25 on an individual basis when their software determines excessive amount of e-mails being sent out rapidly within a time frame. Which results in the user calling in to find out why they cannot send mail, to be told that they have been blocked because they have some type of virus/trojan. I've seen it again and again in the Comcast forum, where the user then does some more extensive scans (especially on the children's computer) and finds it does in fact have a virus. After cleaning it out, and 24 hours later, they are up and running. | |
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Krispy
Premium,VIP
join:2001-12-11
the stix
| Re: End User said by Rob :I've seen it again and again in the Comcast forum, where the user then does some more extensive scans (especially on the children's computer) and finds it does in fact have a virus. After cleaning it out, and 24 hours later, they are up and running. The problem is the other users who won't bother or don't know how to make it onto a forum such as BBR to get that help and feel that technical support should help them do this....I suppose you can engage them in a multi hour conversation as to why they're responsible or why Microsoft is responsible or their PC technician is responsible OR you can spend 20-40 minutes just helping them clean their machine and educate them on how to prevent it in the future and then you've got a cleaner network PLUS you've got a happy customer that, hopefully, won't get infected again and will happily relate that story to their friend, family, co-worker who's lamenting having to traverse the "How do I fix this and is there really a problem or are they just trying to rip me off" territory.
I'm not even necessarily saying that this should be a wholly free system and maybe there's room for some additional revenue to cover the cost of that longer call...maybe an extra X dollar charge on their monthly bill if they wish to be transferred to the Tier X support that will do this for them. I often use the analogy of an oil change to explain this...I'm not an idiot and I'm sure with a bit of Google time and some elbow grease I could easily change the oil on my vehicle and save myself $20 but in all honesty that's not my interest so I'd rather pay someone $20 to do it just like some people would rather pay a few extra bucks to have someone help them with their computer versus packing it up and taking it somewhere or meandering through the yellow pages trying to find someone to do it and then trying to figure out who's right and who's wrong in the usual ISP vs Tech blame game. In my opinion, if ISPs want to be the whole deal for the customer (internet, telephone, tv) then they should be the central point of support for the customer so that when something goes wrong they call the same 800 number for support as they do when they want to add an additional channel or service.
--
you can lead a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink...you can put a man through school but you cannot make him think --ben harper
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast
| Re: End User said by Krispy :said by Rob :I've seen it again and again in the Comcast forum, where the user then does some more extensive scans (especially on the children's computer) and finds it does in fact have a virus. After cleaning it out, and 24 hours later, they are up and running. The problem is the other users who won't bother or don't know how to make it onto a forum such as BBR to get that help and feel that technical support should help them do this....I suppose you can engage them in a multi hour conversation as to why they're responsible or why Microsoft is responsible or their PC technician is responsible OR you can spend 20-40 minutes just helping them clean their machine and educate them on how to prevent it in the future and then you've got a cleaner network PLUS you've got a happy customer that, hopefully, won't get infected again and will happily relate that story to their friend, family, co-worker who's lamenting having to traverse the "How do I fix this and is there really a problem or are they just trying to rip me off" territory. I'm not even necessarily saying that this should be a wholly free system and maybe there's room for some additional revenue to cover the cost of that longer call...maybe an extra X dollar charge on their monthly bill if they wish to be transferred to the Tier X support that will do this for them. I often use the analogy of an oil change to explain this...I'm not an idiot and I'm sure with a bit of Google time and some elbow grease I could easily change the oil on my vehicle and save myself $20 but in all honesty that's not my interest so I'd rather pay someone $20 to do it just like some people would rather pay a few extra bucks to have someone help them with their computer versus packing it up and taking it somewhere or meandering through the yellow pages trying to find someone to do it and then trying to figure out who's right and who's wrong in the usual ISP vs Tech blame game. In my opinion, if ISPs want to be the whole deal for the customer (internet, telephone, tv) then they should be the central point of support for the customer so that when something goes wrong they call the same 800 number for support as they do when they want to add an additional channel or service. Comcast does offer free anti-virus to its customers. So I'm sure when they call in asking why they cant' send e-mail, they are notified that they potentially have a virus, and to download the free anti-virus and scan their system. But, I agree, they should take it a step further and just wall-garden the customer with a screen explaining what has happened, and allow them to download each tool. It would be sweet if Comcast had someway where once they downloaded the anti-virus program, and scanned their system, they could "submit" the clean log to Comcast's system that would automatically release them from the wall garden. Right now, there are too many "dumb" computer users, who most are the ones who have the zombie computers. | |
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Krispy
Premium,VIP
join:2001-12-11
the stix
| said by Dennis :But from a business perspective, when does it make sense to piss of customers and accept responsibility of helping them clean their machines? there's no money in it, and you'll spend more than you save I'm just saying....on one hand you've got people wondering why ISP's don't put customers in walled gardens (ACL's), and then on the other hand you've got people who go batshit crazy when you block port 25 or 135 for similar reasons. You've totally nailed the issues but I would (and regularly do) argue that there is a financial incentive to ISPs taking the extra time. As I indicated in the article last year, I fully believe that the extra time and effort put in to, sometimes, baby stepping a customer through a cleanup and gently explaining why it's important (ie: the malware on their PC could spew the same porn spam they don't want their kids to get, their personal information could be compromised, miscreants can use their infected computer to do bad things that make law enforcement show up at their door, etc) pays off in the end with customer loyalty and these days, when the bundle is king, it's important to keep your customers and their multiple services happy versus frustrating them over and over again with temporarily suspensions or pushing the customer to someone else (who'll usually just blame the ISP). All this is ESPECIALLY important these days as the issue of network abuse, spam, botnets, etc and consumer awareness is just beginning to really hit the general public and non-technical user. It's my belief that an ISP with tools to help clean your computer and staff that will answer your questions on this confusing topic will win out in the end with customer loyalty for ALL their services and not just the monthly internet subscription.
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you can lead a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink...you can put a man through school but you cannot make him think --ben harper
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| | | | | | | | | moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL
| said by Dennis :But from a business perspective, when does it make sense to piss of customers and accept responsibility of helping them clean their machines? there's no money in it, and you'll spend more than you save Use the same excuse they use for bandwidth hogs; to preserve the network. | |
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81399672
Premium
join:2006-05-17
Los Angeles, CA
| said by Rob :said by robertfl :Most of this stuff comes from end user's PC's sending it. Why ISP's should go to great lengths to educate about PC security. Even though it's not their primary concern, if they want to stop (or reduce) spam, some action needs to be taken. -Rob ISPs shouldn't have to go to great lengths to educate their users, but they should go to great lengths to keep their network clean. What advantage do they get from it? As a user if they block me, i will just jump to another isp and they will lose revenue. It's cheaper for them as article mentioned to do nothing. | |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast
| Re: End User said by 81399672 :said by Rob :said by robertfl :Most of this stuff comes from end user's PC's sending it. Why ISP's should go to great lengths to educate about PC security. Even though it's not their primary concern, if they want to stop (or reduce) spam, some action needs to be taken. -Rob ISPs shouldn't have to go to great lengths to educate their users, but they should go to great lengths to keep their network clean. What advantage do they get from it? As a user if they block me, i will just jump to another isp and they will lose revenue. It's cheaper for them as article mentioned to do nothing. What advantage? A cleaner network that isn't overworking due to the numerous zombie systems on their network. It's not cheaper for them not to do anything. Wasted bandwidth and used up resources to handle the extra load on their network of the zombie systems end up costing them money. | |
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81399672
Premium
join:2006-05-17
Los Angeles, CA
1 edit | Re: End User said by Rob :What advantage? A cleaner network that isn't overworking due to the numerous zombie systems on their network. It's not cheaper for them not to do anything. Wasted bandwidth and used up resources to handle the extra load on their network of the zombie systems end up costing them money. But it's cheaper, it's cheaper for them to add resources and live with it than try and educate thousand of users and lose a lot of them because they just tell isp hell with you, i am jumping to another isp. Do you want to be ranked as number 1 isp or number 2 just because you pissed off a lot of your customers | |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast
| Re: End User said by 81399672 :said by Rob :What advantage? A cleaner network that isn't overworking due to the numerous zombie systems on their network. It's not cheaper for them not to do anything. Wasted bandwidth and used up resources to handle the extra load on their network of the zombie systems end up costing them money. But it's cheaper, it's cheaper for them to add resources and live with it than try and educate thousand of users and lose a lot of them because they just tell isp hell with you, i am jumping to another isp. Do you want to be ranked as number 1 isp or number 2 just because you pissed off a lot of your customers It's not cheaper. All it does it turn around and affect their entire customer base than the few that are running zombie machines. This is a prime example to why Comcast has no problem removing their less than 1% of top bandwidth users on their network. They rather piss off 1% or less, than their entire customer base who suffer from slow speeds. Yet Comcast is still one of the largest, if not the largest, ISP in the United States. Why? Sure, they are a monopolyin some areas, but because they can actually give the speed that they advertise to a large % of their customer. | |
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woody7
Premium
join:2000-10-13
Torrance, CA
·EarthLink
·DSL EXTREME
| hmmm...... I fix teachers computers that I work with, when done cleaning up, they promise they will update,run scans, etc. and 6 months later I am doing it again, the price goes up each time, and they still come back....I guess they don't want to be bothered, too much trouble, etc. I guess it will come to a price point that will eventually hurt, but it hasn't as of yet.Go figure, and by the way these are very intelligent (education wise, common sense wise is another story)people.
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BlooMe | |
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Devanchya
Smile
Premium
join:2003-12-09
Ajax, ON
·Bell Sympatico
| Won't change until a price tag is in place Reality is, it will not change until there is an actual cost associated to it that a board of director's can recognize and prioritize.
That would be in the form of ISP based of fines that occur due to scam/spam on the network.
The balancing act between making the fine high enough to be noticed, but low enough that the ISP does not just send it as another 'fee' to all end users.
I'm stuck between two worlds. I never want to see the PC to become Only a appliance, but a lot of people really need one.
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»www.codecipher.com - Marking the way to tomorrow's solutions | |
| 
Shamayim
I already have a Messiah.
Premium
join:2002-09-23
2 edits | While Verizon's the #3 top offender It's noteworthy that Cablevision (Optimum Online) isn't on the list at all.
--
"tick...tick...tick..."
»www.jtf.org/
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| wispagod
join:2001-06-28
House Springs, MO | and we wont do anything it's not are fault ppl are stupid, so were not gunna do anything, it's like the tv ripping people off on infomertials and people doing mail scams, it's life deal with it | |
| 
Michieru_
@bellsouth.net
| ! I say just cut them off, have their computer cleaned or leave. For some reason I think the cost of bandwidth coming from such infected computers will equalize on how much they will lose in customers.
So actual usage, is actually legitimate and from the user, saving a few extra gigs here and there and spread from 1 million users, we are talking about terabytes, maybe even exabytes in savings too the ISP.
As a customer who barely uses his connection is a good customer, while a customer who utilizes his connection to the fullest is an a-hole | |
| 
deadi
Premium
join:2001-08-26
Perry, OH
1 edit | whose interest would it serve? In reality, there is no money in protecting users. Most often the scenario of a pissed off customer that is ignorant to how a pc works will give them more bad publicity and a hard time. "They turned my internet off!"
On the other hand, I think the ISPS should remain hands off of whatever comes down my connection. I have a pretty good idea what is bad. I pay for access and nothing more. But filtering out crapware and viruses would be something I would have my mom sign-up for if she chose to pay for it.
What gets me is ISPS DO KNOW when unwanted traffic is coming down the pipe. Bit torrent filtering and throttling is a good example. They have the technology but refuse to use it unless someone with a lot of money and lawyers complain.
--
We learn through the exchange of information, tell me more...... | |
| qworster
join:2001-11-25
Los Angeles, CA | Isn't Verizon the one running all those ads..... ....with the guy in the bucket truck proclaiming how GREAT Verizon't anti EVERYTHING is?
I seem to see one on TV about every five minutes. I guess SAYING you care is more important then actually caring! | |
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TechieZero
Tools Are Using Me
Premium
join:2002-01-25
Wesley Chapel, FL |  Make Individuals Responsible
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catseyenu
Ack Pfft
Premium
join:2001-11-17
Fix East | Calling It like It Is.. The Best:
Cox has always taken security seriously, Matt Carothers is one of the best in the industry.
The Worst:
Screw you OptimumOnline, the Feds should pull your plug. | |
|
Brasileiro
@com.br | Brazil Woo hoo Brazil has 3 of the top 15. Kick butt! We we will be at first world status in no time! | |
| mikebknyc7
join:2006-01-22
Coram, NY
| Optonline I work for Cablevision and I just wanted to confirm that we do wall garden for customers if they send out a large amount of messages using the optonline mail server. Customers who also upload a large amount of data over a long period of time will also be wall gardened. These customers would then be given three chances to stop what they are doing or be banned from the service. Each time they are wall gardened they would have to contact the TSG Security department who will give them the spiel about SPAM, viruses, zombie, etc and they advise you to take of care this issue. For Boost customers it is different because they do not cap your upload for uploading to much data but they can still be wall gardened for SPAM. | |
|
spam heaven
@embarqhsd.net
| Verizon Still leading the Spam world.
Some corporate executives care--- and others don't.
Alas, Verizon consistently falls into the hall of shame.
Since they are not punished for it, why should they care ?
Sort of like- why should China care about blocking their Spam servers ?
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
»www.spamhaus.org/statistics/networks.lasso
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ | |
| rbedard
Premium
join:2007-06-19
Scotts Valley, CA
·SONIC.NET
| Cuts both ways I bailed on my last ISP because they refused to deal with this issue in a material way ... the quality of service went down for everybody because they would not be proactive about managing the ever increasing botnet activity ... it finally became intolerable.
Since I jumped ship, it has continued to get worse; my Mom is still using them for access. I host a few websites there as well. Now my sites have been unavailable for hours at a time, and I am looking at abandoning them as a web host also. It's a drag, because they are a nice Mom and Pop type operation; but they need to get on top of this; the obvious outcome is to be left with a network of users that stay because they do not have to maintain their equipment.
At some point, ISPs must assume responsibility to keep their networks clean, even if it means pissing off some people ... people that are causing problems for others in their "community" ... | |
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justme9
@rr.com
| ISPs are part of the problem they sure don't seem to be the solution. I've had my emails bounced by people with super-strict spam protection because I'm in a "spammy neighborhood." Nothing on my machine, mind you. Nothing at my specific IP. *Other* IPs in the area are zombified.
When I complained about it, RoadRunner's response was (perhaps I should have expected this, given their name) a huge runaround. When I persisted, they stopped responding when it got to the point where they couldn't evade the issue any more.
And why should they worry? They're the only ISP in my area. I'd try somebody else in a heartbeat, if I had any choice. (Satellite's too costly for me.)
Admittedly, spam is the *spammers'* fault. Not the ISP's, and certainly not the customer's, even when they're stupid. But it burns the hell out of me that I'm the one who's paying for it.
I really, really second the suggestions above: ISPs need to do what it takes to: 1) warn users first if they've been zombified, and give them a link to a one-click site that can scan and maybe clean their machines. Antagonizing the user is D.U.M.B., no matter how good it feels. 2) Give them online or phone help to get rid of the problem. 3)If there's no action, then wall off, with a link to the same polite help as in item 2.
Users don't want this crap on their systems. If they're helped to remove it, they'll be happy and willing participants. If they're antagonized, they'll just do more of the same zombie stuff they're doing now.
Can the ISPs make money doing this? The first one who backs off from the screw-the-customer business model, will make money. Right now, we users just hate all of them pretty much equally. | |
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