Designtechnica's guide to being a responsible Net citizen.

[dang]

Checkout our latest Guide: Learn To Be A Responsible Net Citizen (http://reviews.designtechnica.com/guide26.html)

[ECA]

YEA...................................
ALSO, ASK about DECENT anti-spyware in the groups...
It DONT have to cost you money to be safe.

[Ioman]

I had a friend bring his computer over today because he said it was running slow. I installed Spybot and ran it. Over 15 spyware programs were found on his system....15!! I was suprised his computer ran at all. He had about 4 tool bars running, pop-ups everywhere, it was ridiculous. People need to learn how to protect their computers....ignorance is not bliss, I can promise that. The problem is that the average user is totally taken advantage of. There need to be stricter laws put into place to protect people.

[ECA]

VERY...
Keeping a clean system is a PAIN...
And some of these progs should be installed at BUILD TIME.
Even DELL, and HP are installing Virus protection at build.
Worst I have seen is 300+, but it was alot of Tag files for progs holding your info. But there still was ALOT of bots on the system anyway..

[dang]

Ioman, who's comp was that?? sheez. That's crazy. I can understand how many people don't know what's going on. I have crap on my comp that I have no idea got their. The one where it sets my default home page to a search page on bootup is really annoying. I've run everything to try to clean it with no luck. I ended up installing a program that watches the registry on bootup and will prompt me to allow/disallow it.

[minas-beede]

For years I've seen the flood of "do not let yourself be abused" exhortations. Why do I never see any "do not let your users be abused" warnings for net administrators? What it looks like to me is that networks and ISPs take the attitude of "we'll deliver the abuse to your system, it's your job to fight it." Yet it is the networks and ISPs that have the manpower and technical skills. The most many of them will do is to disconnect a compromised system - but the system got compromised precisely because the packets to do that were delivered to it. That seems arrogant, and wrong.

Besides, this is a failed security model. Securing your system works (if it works) to protect that system against abuse. Spam, the most prevalent abuse, occurs because other systems are compromised, not your own. I understand that behind all the exhortations to secure systems is the notion that if everyone did then the problem would disappear, but it won't happen. Read RFC 2505: it tells why securing open relays is not the proper way to combat open relay spam. It won't work, it hasn't worked. Similarly for all such abuse. Securing the systems only works locally, it is not in any sense an attack on the real problem. Take a look: is spam gone? No. The methods used are between terribly weak and totally useless. That's why spam isn't gone.

There's tons of abuse each day, and ISPs and network administrators ignore it. Stop ignoring the abuse, for crying out loud. If a user's system starts spewing spam find out the source of the packets into that system. Yes, the source may be an abused system as well, but if ISPs were on the balll they'd be ready to act on reports of such abuse and to find out the source of the packets into their abused systems. Sooner or later you find the real source. Once you've learned the source, disconnect the compromised system, if that's your policy. If that's all you do you are far worse than the operator of the compromised system. You're a professional, he may not be. You'll force him to correct his problem but you do nothing to corect your own.

You should be working to end spam. Blaming your user and relying on something that will never work shows you to be someone who not only doens't understand the situation, it shows you've never even read and understood RFC 2505. Don't point the finger of blame at the users as the ignorant ones - too many fingers point back at you. Note, too, that they didn't decide to put vulnerable software on the net: they were sold vulnerable software without a warning. If you must blame pick the real targets: the spammers and the vendors of flawed software.

[Ioman]

minas-beede,

I agree 100%, but we all know that networks and ISP's are simply not going to step up. They are providing the bandwidth and thats it. The only reason they have spam blockers on their e-mail (Earthlink for example) is because that spam costs them money by taking up storage space. And I am sure that once ISP's start stepping in (where is the line?) and taking control, then there will be complaints. The RIAA wanted the ISP's to step in and give IP's of their users that were downloading illegal music.

Basically its all or nothing. What needs to be done, is to get congress into it even more to put stricter guidelines on what is considered legal.

And lastly, as far as spyware is involved, its the large corporations that are responsible for this. When I had that isearch tool bar installed for example, I kept getting Sprint pop-up ads. These companies are encouraging the bad activities.

[ECA]

TRUE,
But there havent been any spam laws until recently.
And only recently have the ISP's installed anti spam and Virus protections to protect the users.
But its a 2 way street.
The USER must also, protect themselves. There are sites out there "you dont want to go to". But how to know this, track it, and STOP users going to them.

There are ways for the ISP's to ghost there users locations, which would be totally awesome. It would be a way to locate these sites, by have the user ghosted with bogus ISP locatio that YOU capture incoming Spam and Virus SENDERS.
It would be killer.
But, this is ALSO a way to get a couple lawsuits. One has to do with stoppping commerce flow.
The OTHER problem is that companies, LOVE to do the LEAST and get paid the MOST. And setting this TRAP up would cost them a small amout of money(REALLY, not that much). AND there are service out there now for Covering up your location, IF you wish to pay.
THERE ARE NO services with the TRAP idea in USE.