Australian government moves forward with plan to eliminate zombie PCs

COLLAB distinguished with the APDC / Siemens Innovation Award

Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA) developed for three months an application that aims to eliminate computers zombies that propagate spam and viruses on the Internet without the knowledge of their owners. Through the Australian Internet Security Initiative (AISI), the Australian communications regulator wants to identify infected computers, helping users to clean their systems or reduce the risk of spread.

The initiative was recently introduced by communications minister Helen Coonan and has the participation of five ISPs: Telstra Bigpond, OptusNet, Westnet, Pacific Internet and West Australian Networks. In the first phase, each of the ISPs will receive a list of IP addresses that identifies the computers on their networks, checking those that demonstrate behavior. zombies.

In a second phase, ISPs will have to send a notification to users, helping them to disinfect and protect their systems.

If the owner of the computer contacted by the ISP is unable to disinfect their system, the ISP can eliminate the Internet connection, reducing the risk of threat to other users.

«There are millions of zombies in the world that are becoming a major problem for the Internet […] International insurance companies software estimate that more than 60 percent of spam global comes from zombies and ACMA is working together with ISPs and the public to resolve this issue, «Lynma, ACMA President, Lyn Maddock, reveals to the international press.

It is recalled that this year the North American Trade Commission (FTC) promoted a campaign, with the aim of identifying and combating the use of computers zombies, which send emails without authorization from users. To this end, FCT had the support of more than 20 countries, a total of 35 government partners, and their Internet service providers.

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