There is a huge problem for Internet providers with infected personal computers, known as “botnets”, that suck up bandwidth by sending spam and facilitating cybercrime.
Comcast Corp. is trying to enlist customers in a service to fight against this problem.
The country’s largest provider of high-speed Internet to homes started testing a service this week in Denver in which Comcast sends customers a pop-up message in their Web browsers if their computers seem to have been co-opted by a botnet. One botnet can have tens of thousands or even millions of PCs.
Botnets are a part of most serious cybercrime. They’re used to steal credit card numbers, carry out so-called “denial-of-service” attacks that bring down Web sites and send spam by hijacking e-mail accounts and Internet connections.
The message points to a Comcast site with tips for cleaning infected computers. It reads: “Comcast has detected that there may be a virus on your computer(s).This alerts customers to PC infections they likely didn’t know about because anti-virus software updates can’t keep up fast enough.
Comcast said users can close the warning banners if they wish, but they cannot opt out of receiving them. A reminder will return every seven days while a computer appears to be infected.
The program, which Comcast hopes to roll out nationally, is one of the most aggressive moves yet by a major Internet provider to try and prevent this Internet epidemic.
For information on how to clean your computer(s), please visit the Comcast Anti-Virus Center.”
http://timesherald.com/articles/2009/10/12/business/doc4ad284818c228907635656.txt
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