A new industry code that has been designed to control and prevent the spread of PC contamination throughout Australia could see any computer infected with a virus being refused access to the internet.

It has been reported that an operate-or-legislate ultimatum to identify computer systems that have become “zombie” computers and are being used for cyber-crime has been issued to the internet industry by the Federal Government.

A voluntary industry code that is to be made official later this year is currently being prepared by the Internet Industry Association, which has members that include many of the big network operators like Vodafone, Telstra, Hutchison 3G, AAPT, Optus and Virgin along with major industry players like Microsoft, Facebook and Google.

Recent intelligence from within the industry has found that Australia has the third highest number of “zombie” computers in the world that have been infected with viruses and other malicious software allowing them to be used to steal the identity of the user, attack other computers, store child pornography or send spam, and this has led to this latest move by the government and the industry.

Any computers identified as being infected should expect to be contacted either by email or by phone according to the draft copy of the new Voluntary code.

The changing of an infected customer’s password or the slowing of their broadband connection so they will contact the helpdesk is an “abuse” plan that will be introduced by ISPs under the new proposals.

The proposed code also states “(Another action could be to) provide the customer with a timeframe in which to take remedial access and, if this is not adhered to, terminate service.”

Only in the “most extreme of cases” should customers have their broadband internet access terminated, like when a users system is clogging the internet with the spam it is sending or when a user refused to install anti-virus software says the code

Source - News