[LINK] itNews re the iCode and Botnet Countermeasures

[Roger Clarke]

At 11:26 +1000 4/4/12, jim birch wrote:
>It seems to me that mandatory lockout of pwned connections would be a
>stride in the right direction.  People would take notice if were
>disconnected until they paid to get the cleaners around to clean their PCs
>and secure their router.

Now let me see if I can contrive to get your machine appropriately 
infected, so that the network takes action against it, at just the 
time I'd like you to be off the air.

Then I can use the iCode against you as a DOS attack and/or an 
inbound censorship tool and/or an outbound censorship tool.


I'm not saying we shouldn't do something along these lines.  But boy 
are we going to have to be careful about the collateral damage, and 
the gaming of the feature.

_________________________________________________________________________

>Quote:
>
>"[The IIA] is keen to keep the icode voluntary since it's in the best
>interests of service providers to comply with the icode," he said.
>
>
>Is that so?  This seems a classic case of a individual cost v shared
>benefit problem.   If you're a home user infected by a botnet you might
>possibly have some problem but it's by no means certain.  You computer
>might even behave unpredictably! :)  But likely the major negative effect
>will be on others so it's will tend to be a case of don't know, don't care
>for most users.    If you were fined 10 cents for every email your pwned
>system sent you might think differently.
>
>Same for ISPs. Botnets might add to the overall traffic they have to handle
>and but the costs are generally borne by others.  And if you run a secured
>network you run the risk of driving people to other ISPs.
>
>It seems to me that mandatory lockout of pwned connections would be a
>stride in the right direction.  People would take notice if were
>disconnected until they paid to get the cleaners around to clean their PCs
>and secure their router.
>
>If ISP safety could be rated - ie above the current zero everywhere - it
>might be possible for ISPs to run more restrictive connection policies
>against dirty networks (block the Ukraine?) which could lift the impetus to
>keep your own system clean.
>
>Opinions?
>
>Jim
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-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/

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Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law               University of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University