Forwarded from: Chad W. Didier <cdidier@private> So they have antivirus and firewalls running. Big deal. Do you know how many people I run into that have both but the antivirus is out of date by a matter of 6 months? Or the firewall isn't configured properly because frankly the end user has no clue what should have access to the internet and what should not? 99% of the people I do freelance tech. support for fall into this category. I preach, but do they listen? Hell no! I'm not talking about only the single end user at home. I'm also talking about multi-million dollar small businesses who gawk at the cost of protecting all their systems and the cost involved in maintaining that protection not to mention the "inconvenience" factor. You can lead a horse to water but, I'll be damned if you can make him drink. No what needs to be done is since the big ISP's are so nosey to begin with they can also scan their customers for indications of infections. Once found that user or entire network should be blocked from accessing anything other than a proxy that displays a single page explaining why their access has been denied and offering a means to clean/patch their system to regain access to the rest of the world. Infections should be quarantined. It won't prevent initial infection but it would severely curb continued infection. Forcing the customers to clean and patch their systems would kill two birds with one stone. Because ISP's fear they'd lose business over the issue it'll never happen unless it is legislated. Short of denying them access or a virus with a devastating payload there will be no change in attitudes. -----Original Message----- From: owner-isn@private [mailto:owner-isn@private] On Behalf Of InfoSec News Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 4:56 AM To: isn@private Subject: [ISN] Spammers exploit high-speed connections, careless users http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2004-02-16-zombie-men ace_x.htm [I've said it once, I'll say it again, the home and small business users of high-speed broadband internet services need a financial incentive to use firewalls and anti-virus. The only way that's going to happen, is to tell the users, if you use an authorized firewall and A/V solution, you will pay less on your monthly internet service than if you just plugged your cable modem into the back of your computer. Joe Sixpack doesn't care about internet security, he's too busy looking for the latest version of Paris Hilton's movie to learn about the latest worm clogging things up, I'm willing to bet people would be more willing to save few bucks in the long run over having to teach them why you really need a firewall and A/V software. - WK] -=- By Anick Jesdanun Associated Press 2/16/2004 NEW YORK - Next time you're looking for a culprit for all that junk mail flooding your inbox, have a glance in the mirror. Spammers are increasingly exploiting home computers with high-speed Internet connections into which they've cleverly burrowed. E-mail security companies estimate that between one-third and two-thirds of unwanted messages are relayed unwittingly by PC owners who set up software incorrectly or fail to secure their machines. David Lawrence, 43, owns such a computer, which turned into a "spam zombie" when a virus infected it in October. Five or six spammers were using his cable modem to remotely send pitches for products like Viagra and boosters for cell phone signals. "Spammers and the people who write these viruses ... is their life so void that they feel they have to mess up other people?" said Lawrence. "To me, it's criminal." The self-employed businessman from Tifton, Ga., said he learned of his computer's culpability when his Internet service got suspended. "I called to find out what was going on because I knew I had the bill paid," he said. Lawrence is by no means alone. Hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide have been infected by SoBig and other viruses that are programmed to spawn gateways, known technically as proxies, to relay spam. Though Lawrence had antivirus software, he hadn't kept it updated. It's ironic to the president of the security Web site myNetWatchman.com, Lawrence Baldwin, that those afflicted by spam are also often its couriers. "That's further encouragement, justification for taking responsibility for your own system," said Baldwin. "If you don't, you can be part of the very problem you're complaining about." Any Internet-connected computer could be running a proxy spam relay, but most of the malicious programs are written specifically for PCs that run Windows. [...] - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomo@private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Feb 19 2004 - 06:31:44 PST