begin risky.vbs
<1909294.D6lCH1FHG9@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> Increased spam levels connected with aggressive botnet activities
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| MessageLabs announced the results of its MessageLabs Intelligence
>| Report for October 2006. In this report, MessageLabs highlights the
>| sudden increase in spam levels as spammers gear up to the holiday
>| season, attributed to a huge rise in recent botnet activities and the
>| latest outbreak of the Warezov virus, responsible for dropping an
>| aggressive spam Trojan.
> `----
>
> http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=4359
>
> Earlier topday I read that 117 billion E-mails are being sent per
> day. That would be hundreds per day per computer user.
SPAM is clearly a huge and expensive problem. How to solve it? Well
clearly one solution is not allowing any Windows PC to connect to the
Internet. I can dream can't I? :-)
One proposed solution is adding a small charge for each email. At
first look that sounds quite reasonable. For most people the cost
would be very small. For spammers sending millions of emails the cost
would be prohibitive. This sounds good but what about those whose PC's
have been turned into spambots simply because they use an OS, Windows,
that is so vulnerable to exploits?
A solution is for ISP's to block all Internet access to PC's that are
known to be sending SPAM. A simple notification to the user that their
Internet access will be stopped along with what steps they should take
if their PC is a spambot. Those steps should suggest using an OS other
than Windows of course.
This could easily be automated at the ISP in most cases. A warning
email sent to those Windows PC's sending large amounts of email. If
the user cannot give a satisfactory reason for why their PC is
generating so much email then all Internet access is blocked until the
infected PC is 'cleaned' of the infection.
Why this hasn't been done implies this solution is wrong in some
fundamental way but I cannot see it. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.
At the end of the day it is clear the majority of spambots are Windows
PC's. Ridding th Internet of Windows PC's may be a dream but it is a
good idea IMHO.
--
Security is one of those funny things. You can talk about being "more"
secure, but there's no such thing. A vulnerability is a vulnerability, and
even one makes you just as insecure as anyone else. Security is a binary
condition, either you are or you aren't. - Funkenbusch 1 Oct 2006
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