Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY | so simple
It would be so simple for the likes of Comcast to give their customers an anti virus and firewall as part of their subscription price.
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"Remember when hacking a loogy it comes not so much from the lungs but from the soul." |
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hbreg
Premium
join:2000-11-09
Feasterville Trevose, PA
| said by Transmaster  :
It would be so simple for the likes of Comcast to give their customers an anti virus and firewall as part of their subscription price.
This has been discussed before and it wouldn't benefit Comcast 1 bit. The people who's machines are being used as zombies most likely don't have a firewall or A/V software on their computers because:
•They don't know about them
•They don't know how to properly set them up
•They couldn't care less about them
Most computers today come with A/V and Firewall software already installed on them. People just don't know or care about it.
If Comcast gave all of their users A/V and Firewalls can you imagine the support calls to Comcast when people can't configure them properly and can't connect to the Internet. a lot of the support calls now that people are having trouble, Comcast will tell them to turn off any A/V programs and firewalls they have running.
I think if Comcast gets a complaint about an IP being used for spam, monitor the IP, and within an hour they will know by the amount of traffic coming from that machine it is being used for spam and take them off of the network. No warning letters, no phone calls just remove them. Once a person can't connect then they can call Comcast and they can explain it to them. If a person only goes online every few days why have that box on the network spewing spam when you can disconnect the system and it would take a few days for the person to realize they can't get online.
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I try to keep an open mind, but not so open that my brains fall out. -- Judge Harold T. Stone |
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SacredNaCl
join:2004-02-17
Saint Louis, MO
| reply to Transmaster
said by Transmaster :
It would be so simple for the likes of Comcast to give their customers an anti virus and firewall as part of their subscription price.
Ultimately that is what it is going to come to. A few ISP's already do ship firewalls and antivirus programs with this DSL/Cable kits. Unfortunately, most of them are trial offers and those that aren't are usually limited to a 6 month or 1 year subscription to updates.
I'm somewhat hesitant to seek legislation in this area, I don't want the equivalent of drivers licenses for the internet - but it would be the responsible thing for the service providers to go ahead and bite the bullet and tack on "$30-40" to the setup fee to include one. Antivirus and firewall vendors would bend over backwards to hear they could get "$2-3 per month from 1 million customers". Big ISP's have a lot to broker with. Is SBC's deal with Yahoo to provide content really any different than this deal would be? Comcast has to be large enough to be able to get at least that good of deal if not a substantially better one.
If they raise their renewal fee "1-2$" to cover it so be it.
It's not like everyone isn't used to cable rate increases, eh? |
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xmrocks
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-23
clubs:  
 ·Comcast
| reply to Transmaster
I agree it would be a good idea to have Anti-Virus and Firewall software for both major platforms (Windows and Mac) provided as part of the service. But even then, what percentage of people would actually use it? Sure, people like you and I (and other tech-saavy individuals would jump on it) but those people who are somewhat 'illiterate' in the computer sense would probably pay no attention to it and disregard it.
It's not a bad idea though. I know this is not realistic, but my school's network will check for patches (mainly virus patches) when connected to the network. If you don't have those patches, you're terminated with a message giving you possible reasons why you were terminated. Comcast could do this, but then people would complain about invasion of privacy, etc. etc.
I don't think it's ever going to be a winning situation, unfortunately. However, this is a step in the right direction (taking action against those IP's). |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | quote:
But even then, what percentage of people would actually use it?
Exactly. Or know how to use it. Or bother to update it. |
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vice8686
join:2000-10-13
Lancaster, CA
| said by Karl Bode :
quote:
But even then, what percentage of people would actually use it?
Exactly. Or know how to use it. Or bother to update it.
...or, in fact, I've know people to uninstall those programs claiming slow internet speeds. It's sad. |
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Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY
 ·Qwest.net
| said by vice8686 :
said by Karl Bode :
quote:
But even then, what percentage of people would actually use it?
Exactly. Or know how to use it. Or bother to update it.
...or, in fact, I've know people to uninstall those programs claiming slow internet speeds. It's sad.
So true, unfortunately, This must be why MSN/Qwest is shipping the DSL modems with the NAT firewalls fixed so you can't access the settings, and will not give out the keys. This is unfortunate to those of use who are relentless in our security measures. I really need to configure the firewall so I can use Echolink. The price we are paying for IDIOTS!!!!!! 
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"Remember when hacking a loogy it comes not so much from the lungs but from the soul." |
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