

UK government must protect people from malware - Netadmin
http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/public-sector/3334650/government-must-do-more-protect-people-from-malware-say-mps/

======
DanBC
Politicians talking about technology are beyond parody.

This is a thoroughly depressing article.

~~~
mooism2
Really? The botnet testing site idea does not seem clueless --- it would
require ISP co-operation and they urge ISP co-operation. There are privacy
implications of such a service, true, but this is the stuff of politics.

~~~
DanBC
ISPs surely already have information about some of their infected customers.

If it's acceptable for an ISP to mess with DNS and provide an ad-laden search
page (Virgin Media) or to redirect to a "Fair Use limit reached on your
unlimited account" page (T Mobile) it must be okay to redirect people spewing
spam or malware to a list of clean-up instructions and anti-malware sites.

The other problem I have is that removing malware from a machine isn't usually
easy. While people on HN may enjoy tinkering around seeing where the hooks are
the best (quickest, surest, cheapest) method is to wipe and re-install. People
visiting a "are you infected" site are probably not keen to wipe and re-
install, and are possibly just going to end up with worse infections as they
search for anti-virus solutions.

~~~
mooism2
I expect most people don't know how to wipe and reinstall. They may not even
know it's possible. Information on what to do if your PC is infected would be
useful to have on this website, no?

Some ISPs (e.g. BT I think) already redirect you if they think your system is
infected. But _permitting_ ISPs to redirect your web browsing is different
from _requiring_ ISPs to do so. We need a solution for customers of ISPs who
take network neutrality seriously as well.

