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ISPs, Users Slammed For Botnet Problem
David Utter
Staff Writer
2007-06-04
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Frustrated security professionals want to do something to stem the tide of computer botnets, and suggest among other ideas that people should need to get an Internet license before they surf.
 | | ISPs, Users Slammed For Botnet Problem |  |
The idea of a license to click probably won't get any farther than the frustrations that vented the proposal. But that was just one of several thoughts bounced around the Anti-Phishing Working Group's Counter e-Crime Operations Summit.
Wired said the license concept and other ideas circulated as speakers from a variety of industries discussed the problem.
Unsurprisingly, two core areas came in for withering criticism. Internet service providers and computer users aren't doing enough to fight the problem of botnets. Critics charge ISPs don't track down botnet-infected machines or even shut them down when alerted by security pros.
User habits that lead people to click on malicious links, or even failing to maintain proper security software, give thousands of bot programs a home. There is user apathy, the professionals charge, because bots don't use up a lot resources to cause people problems.
Then there was the suggestion that ISPs need to be paid to police themselves of infected user hardware, through some sort of government program. We're more than a little skeptical about this, first because one would think ISPs are already being paid to identify computer usage that breaks their terms of service.
And secondly, how many government programs can one name that are truly effective at using their resources to combat a problem?
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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