[63318] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Is there anything that actually gets users to fix their computers?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jack Bates)
Fri Oct 3 10:21:03 2003
Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2003 09:20:26 -0500
From: Jack Bates <jbates@brightok.net>
To: John Renwick <jrenwick@agere.com>
Cc: Sean Donelan <sean@donelan.com>, nanog@merit.edu
In-Reply-To: <PAEBIODDHHIMCKLJKMADOENBEEAA.jrenwick@agere.com>
Errors-To: owner-nanog-outgoing@merit.edu
John Renwick wrote:
>
> You've put your finger on it. ISPs have to help users understand that their
> machines are broken in a way that makes them unable to gain access to the
> Internet -- then most will take them to the shop PDQ, and hopefully get them
> back with some protection installed.
>
While suspending service is a harsh step, sometimes it is required to
get the user's attention. More than that, and as explained to my
customers, their service was interrupted because their computer was
insecure. The level of that insecurity is unknown by us and we try to
protect our users. After all, does the user just have Virus X, or do
they have Virus Y which includes a keylogger?
My customers are learning what keyloggers are and what viruses are
capable of. Wouldn't you want to know that your bank details can be
learned despite the SECURE connection to your bank because a virus
placed a keylogger on your computer? It's true. It scares them. Then
again, they should be scared. Insecure systems are nothing to joke
about. They can cause real damage.
-Jack
