Zombie Machines, Port Blocking, Confusion And Large Bills
from the the-world-we-live-in dept
With the incredible rise of zombie machines that spew spam messages constantly, it looks like different ISPs continue to take very different approaches to dealing with the problem. As expected, Comcast has now started selectively blocking port 25 on accounts from that appear to be compromised. However, others are taking more extreme approaches. Over in the UK, NTL has apparently decided to just start blocking a variety of ports on all their customers without warning. This was exactly what Comcast had realized not to do - since they knew the support costs from angry and confused users would not be worth it. In the case of NTL, it sounds as if some of their support people don't even know what's going on, which is causing even more problems when users call in. Up in Canada, the story is a bit different. It sounds like most Canadian providers have reasonable plans for dealing with zombie machines - including a hybrid approach of sending warnings to subscribers who appear to have been compromised, blocking ports on just those users, or cutting them off completely if they don't respond. Most have dedicated support staff whose job it is to help clean up machines. The article reports, though, that some corporate users who don't have unlimited bandwidth are discovering that their providers aren't informing them - leading to shocking large bandwidth bills. They point out that their service providers should have let them know as soon as they noticed something out of the ordinary, but so far the providers haven't been particularly forgiving (leading at least one company to declare bankruptcy).
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Another Technique
http://img.spk01.com/content/adelphia/newsletter/050418/reducespam.htm
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Take responsibility
This is the land of " it's not my fault ".
It is not the job of the ISP to monitor your computer. If your too stupid to either know or find out if your machine has been compromised then you need to be shut off.
This is about as stupid as someone wanting to sue the manufacturer of their car because they left the keys in the ignition and the car got stolen.
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Re: Take responsibility
Your comparison of car owners suing manufacturers because of theft is what's stupid. A car is thousands of pounds of steel and rubber, and if it's stolen, it's quite obvious. A computer system that's been compromised by software specifically designed to be hidden is not even comparable.
The problem is not "stupid users", PEBKAC or ID10T. While I'll grant that an ounce of sophistication would do *wonders* for the obliteration of malware, I still contend the problem lies in the quagmire of poorly secured operating systems (Wind0ze), insidiously complex software applications, financially/politically motivated malware authors, and elitist technophiles who believe the internet community should be exclusively for people just like themselves.
Seriously, would you blame the driver of a car for stalling if someone shoves potatos in their tailpipe??
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Re: Take responsibility
You have to take responsibility for your own protection.
By leaving every port open, not installing a firewall, adaware or some such similar software, virus protection software & complaining that computers are too hard to learn, people reap what they sow.
Blaming windows is like the idiots that are blaming Bush for blowing up the World Trade Center.
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Re: Take responsibility
You and The John Birch Society would get along swimmingly.
"Blaming windows is like the idiots that are blaming Bush for blowing up the World Trade Center." -- way to bring up a relevant comparison. Please change your nickname to: "Constructor of Straw Men."
Did you bring enough of whatever you're smoking for the rest of us here on Techdirt?
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Re: Take responsibility
Buy your own grass Jeremiah.
If you don't like windows, you are always welcome to invent something better !
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Re: Take responsibility
Just like a true tie-dyed-in-the-wool "L-word" Can't even grasp the concept of individuals being responsible for themselves, and their actions/inactions!
The liberal manta: "I am never responsible for myself. It is some big, bad that is at fault. I think it is time for me to run and hide behind the skirts of mommy, er... big government."
"You and The John Birch Society would get along swimmingly."
And you would get along swimmingly with say the CPUSA (Communist Party USA). Pot - kettle black as it were. Neener, neener, neener.
""Blaming windows is like the idiots that are blaming Bush for blowing up the World Trade Center." -- way to bring up a relevant comparison. Please change your nickname to: "Constructor of Straw Men.""
Yeah that is fairly irrelevant.
But, GASP! It *seems* like you agree that blaming President Bush for the WTC attack is indeed moronic. Could it be so? Bzzzz, you get docked 300 liberal points. You are in danger of becoming a horrible, neo Fascist non-liberal. Oops, sorry that is redundant in liberal-speak.
"Did you bring enough of whatever you're smoking for the rest of us here on Techdirt?"
Huh? What a maroon! Don't you know that conservatives don't smoke that stuff. Only you drugged out pinko liberal scum do that.
The "liberal dictionary"
http://
www.americancivilrightsreview.com/mailliberal.html
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Re: Take responsibility
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Sympatico -- Not that nice
Sorry guys: Sympatico has restricted the flow of EMail message to their sole Internet Gateways (this was a year ago). This was done without any warning and at the most inapropriate of time. At the time, Sympatico even forgot to tell their own helpdesk.
Therefore, before saying how nice is Sympatico, just check your fact. They have change a lot of thing without any warning to their clientele. For example, implementing control mesure that was filtering out some good messages.
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