Comcast Finally Takes Action Against Zombie Machines

Grok Headline matches for Comcast Finally Takes Action Against Zombie Machines

Zombie machines used in 'brutal' SSH
attacks

Zombie machines used in 'brutal' SSH
attacks 06/05/2005 11:28 PM

Comcast Admits Their Zombie Problem

Comcast Admits Their Zombie Problem 05/24/2004 02:27 PM
People have been talking about the problems of zombie machines spewing spam for a while. One of the biggest issues is how to get the broadband providers to do something about it, and to help stop the flow of spam from the computers of users who have no idea they're sending out spam. One of the biggest targets in this discussion is Comcast - who, by their sheer size in the market, appears to have the most subscribers with compromised machines. In fact, last week, they admitted that they were, technically, "the biggest spammer on the internet." They say that Comcast users send out 800 million messages a day - and 700 million of them are spam from zombie machines. Many have complained that Comcast hasn't taken the situation seriously, but that seems to have changed lately. Over the last few months they've been a lot more proactive in letting subscribers know that their machines have been taken over - but it still takes a while, and end-users who end up getting cut off are often not savvy enough to understand what's happening or how to fix it. One potential solution is to block port 25 - something that many other ISPs do - but Comcast has rejected that plan, knowing that the complaint and support costs would be overwhelming. Instead, it sounds like they've come up with a fairly creative method of dealing with the problem. They're going to monitor overall usage, and if they become aware of a problem, they will remotely adjust only that user's modem to block port 25. While this may still cause an occasional headache for some users, the overall impact should be much lower, and the non-tech-savvy zombie-fied customer will have the problem they didn't know about solved without them knowing about it as well.

Zombie machines fueling new cybercrime
wave

Zombie machines fueling new cybercrime
wave 11/12/2003 05:43 PM
As more homes connect to broadband systems, computers are becoming more vulnerable to hackers and virus writers who can turn them into "zombie" machines, ready to carry out malevolent commands.

Zombie Machines, Port Blocking,
Confusion And Large Bills

Zombie Machines, Port Blocking,
Confusion And Large Bills 06/10/2004 09:49 AM
With the incredible rise of zombie machines that spew spam messages constantly, it looks like different ISPs continue to take very different approaches to dealing with the problem. As expecte d, Comcast has now started selectively blocking port 25 on accounts from that appear to be compromised. However, others are taking more extreme approaches. Over in the UK, NTL has apparently decided to just start blocking a variety of ports on all their customers without warning. This was exactly what Comcast had realized not to do - since they knew the support costs from angry and confused users would not be worth it. In the case of NTL, it sounds as if some of their support people don't even know what's going on, which is causing even more problems when users call in. Up in Canada, the story is a bit different. It sounds like most Canadian providers have reasonable plans for dealing with zombie machines - including a hybrid approach of sending warnings to subscribers who appear to have been compromised, blocking ports on just those users, or cutting them off completely if they don't respond. Most have dedicated support staff whose job it is to help clean up machines. The article reports, though, that some corporate users who don't have unlimited bandwidth are discovering that their providers aren't informing them - leading to shocking large bandwidth bills. They point out that their service providers should have let them know as soon as they noticed something out of the ordinary, but so far the providers haven't been particularly forgiving (leading at least one company to declare bankruptcy).

Comcast finally cracking down on IP
grabs

Comcast finally cracking down on IP
grabs 05/25/2004 07:25 PM
Via BroadbandReports: ?Comcast hasn?t really bothered to remove spammers from their network, but they have been making a significant effort in 2004 to crack down on users who are pulling multiple public IP addresses instead of hiding their gear behind a router (see letter page 1, page 2)?

Finally Geeks Available in Action Figure
Form

Finally Geeks Available in Action Figure
Form 05/23/2004 09:21 AM

Comcast takes on TiVo

Comcast takes on TiVo 12/03/2003 06:04 PM
The cable giant is developing a digital video recording service in partnership with TV Guide that will be available by year's end.

VMware Takes Virtual Machines Mobile

VMware Takes Virtual Machines Mobile 09/20/2004 08:19 AM
The company extends secure computing environments to the mobile enterprise with VMware ACE.

Comcast takes hard line against spam

Comcast takes hard line against spam 06/10/2004 08:38 PM
Blocking ports of suspect PCs draws criticism, but customers send 665 million e-mails daily.

Retells New 570 Message Centre Takes
Answer Machines to New Heights

Retells New 570 Message Centre Takes
Answer Machines to New Heights 03/14/2005 05:59 PM
Retell celebrated the launch of their 570 Message Centre, which is taking the conventional answer machine to new heights, selling over half of their first consignment on the first day of sale. [PRWEB Mar 11, 2005]

VoIP finally takes off in Europe

VoIP finally takes off in Europe 11/17/2003 03:12 PM
vnunet.com Nov 17 2003 1:38PM ET

Oracle takes control of PeopleSoft --
finally (AFP)

Oracle takes control of PeopleSoft --
finally (AFP) 12/29/2004 01:58 PM
AFP - Business software group Oracle Corp. announced that it had taken control of rival PeopleSoft by grabbing 75 percent of its stock, ending a rancorous 18-month struggle.

AMD Posts Loss, Takes Action

AMD Posts Loss, Takes Action 04/13/2005 10:55 PM
TheStreet.com Apr 14 2005 3:07AM GMT

ACS Takes Legal Action Against Google

ACS Takes Legal Action Against Google 12/31/2004 04:49 PM
Google search service is said to infringe SciFinder Scholar trademark

FCC Takes Action On First Do Not Call
Violation

FCC Takes Action On First Do Not Call
Violation 12/18/2003 12:59 PM
While the FCC has fined AT&T for violating it's own do not call list and California has gone after a telemarketer for violating the national do not call list, the FCC has finally made their first warning to a company for violating the national list. They've been told they face an $11,000 fine - per call - if they continue to violate the list. Here's where it gets a little strange. The company doesn't deny that they've been calling people on the list. I figure, if they admit that they've been willfully ignoring the list, why should they get a warning? Why not set the fine now?

Christian group takes BBC action

Christian group takes BBC action 03/14/2005 06:05 PM
A Christian group applies for a judicial review of the BBC's broadcast of Jerry Springer - The Opera.

Napster takes executive action in Europe

Napster takes executive action in Europe 01/16/2004 10:56 AM
Now that its legal troubles are in the past, the reborn music download service hires a former MP3.com exec to help it expand into the lucrative European market.

Valve Takes Legal Action Against
Cheaters?

Valve Takes Legal Action Against
Cheaters? 06/22/2004 03:28 PM

Ebay takes action over child porn
complaints

Ebay takes action over child porn
complaints 12/02/2003 11:01 AM
'Suspicious' images lead to suspension

Yahoo! News - Kerry takes legal action
against Vietnam critics

Yahoo! News - Kerry takes legal action
against Vietnam critics 08/20/2004 08:08 PM
Kerry takes legal action against Vietnam critics .. FEC complaint against the Swift Vets .. Federal Election Commission

news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1506&u=/afp/20040820/t s_alt_afp/us_vote_kerry_vietnam_040820214246&printer=1
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Gambling Machines Much Safer Than
Electronic Voting Machines

Gambling Machines Much Safer Than
Electronic Voting Machines 06/14/2004 03:33 AM
It appears that making sure gambling is fair is much more important than making sure our elections are fair. One of the defenses pulled out by those who want to keep going with existing electronic voting machines is that no one seems to complain about electronic gambling machines. Perhaps that's because electronic gambling machines are held to a much higher standard than electronic voting machines. This NY Times editorial lists six different ways in which gambling machines in Nevada are under much more scrutiny than electronic voting machines. These include things like the fact that the state requires copies of the source code of all electronic gambling software, as well as their stringent licensing procedure for any company that wishes to sell electronic gambling machines. Employees of any such company have to go through background checks to make sure they have no criminal record. Considering that Diebold had convict ed felons involved with their electronic voting systems - you wonder if a similar licensing procedure might make sense for voting machines as well.

Time Warner, Comcast Get Adelphia,
Comcast Celebrates By Turning Off DNS

Time Warner, Comcast Get Adelphia,
Comcast Celebrates By Turning Off DNS 04/08/2005 12:13 PM
It looks like Adelphia cable broadband customers who are about to get shifted over to Comcast have plenty of outages to look forward to. The same evening that it's announced that Time Warner and Comcast will jointly devour what's left of Adelphia for about $18 billion, Comcast had major DNS issues leaving many of their users offline. Of course, in explaining the widespread outage, Comcast is using their favorite phrase: "scheduled maintenance." That's the same thing they told me when Comcast turned off my service nearly every weekday last October. I would call every morning and be told that it was "scheduled maintenance." However, when I asked what the schedule was and if I'd have service the next day, I was told they had no idea. Apparently, it doesn't become scheduled until it actually cut you off.

2 mln fax machines and combo machines
were sold in the US in 2004

2 mln fax machines and combo machines
were sold in the US in 2004 03/27/2005 05:50 AM
ZDNet Mar 27 2005 10:35AM GMT

Comcast Outages Prevent Comcast From
Commenting On Comcast Outages

Comcast Outages Prevent Comcast From
Commenting On Comcast Outages 04/14/2005 01:21 PM
Last week, we noted that Comcast was having widespread outage problems, which they chalk ed up to "scheduled maintenance", even though no one was actually informed of said schedule ahead of time. It turns out that schedule is pretty crowded, because all week long, there have been continued reports of recurring outages all across the Comcast network. Comcast, of course, continues to be pretty much silent on the issue, leaving its increasingly fed up call center staff to deal with incredibly angry customers who feel they're getting no information at all. How hard is it to admit that they screwed up and they're working on fixing the problem? Instead of chalking it up to bogus scheduled maintenance or pretending there's nothing wrong, admit what the problem is and give people real updates. People would still be unhappy, but at least they'd feel like the company wasn't ignoring them. Of course, maybe they can't do that because Comcast staffers don't have any internet access either...

Voting Machines Vs. Slot Machines

Voting Machines Vs. Slot Machines 12/04/2003 01:10 PM
Slashdot Dec 4 2003 12:50PM ET

Zombie 1.0

Zombie 1.0 01/06/2004 02:25 PM
Zombie is a neat little screen saver that simulates the epic struggle of life with stick figures and bright colors.

A New Breed of Zombie?

A New Breed of Zombie? 06/07/2004 09:15 AM
A New Breed of Zombie? Zombies have been a fixture in horror lore, inspiring people to write about the theory behind them, plans for national security against them, and home protection. But are these experts prepared for the mutations that have developed? Rock n Roll Zombies (see above), Viral Zombies, and Drug Induced Zombies.

Is your computer a zombie

Is your computer a zombie 07/08/2004 05:23 AM

We all know that there are a lot of zombie machines on the Internet and they are being rented out to perform a myriad of task. Some of these networks are made up of 10 to 30,000 machines and are being rented out for as little as $100.00 per hour. [ZDNet]

20,000 Zombie PCs -- $3000

20,000 Zombie PCs -- $3000 09/09/2004 04:35 PM

Revenge of the Zombie Bloodsucker PCs

Revenge of the Zombie Bloodsucker PCs 06/02/2004 05:20 AM
It was five years ago today... 2 June 1999

Bush-Zombie Reagan '04

Bush-Zombie Reagan '04 06/09/2004 03:48 PM
it's funny because it's *true*

Zombie Network Pricing

Zombie Network Pricing 09/08/2004 08:51 AM

Going price for network of zombie PCs: $2,000-$3,000: Here's a look into the economics of spam hackers.

One indication of the going rate for zombie PCs comes from a June 11 posting on SpecialHam.com, an electronic forum for spammers. The asking price for use of a network of 20,000 zombie PCs: $2,000 to $3,000. Such networks typically are used to broadcast spam and phishing scams and to spread e-mail viruses designed mainly to create yet more zombies.

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Zombie Networks for Rent

Zombie Networks for Rent 07/07/2004 04:31 PM

Home PCs rented out in sabotage racket: This is just hideous. Now they have "zombie brokers" that will rent you a zombie network they've created.

Vast networks of home computers are being rented out without their owners' knowledge to spammers, fraudsters and digital saboteurs, security experts say.

The terminals have been infected by a computer virus, turning them into "zombies" — slaves to the commands of a malicious and unseen controller.

For more information on what they're doing with these machines, see this post.

Click here to comment on this entry

Would you like a cherry Bagle with your
zombie PC?

Would you like a cherry Bagle with your
zombie PC? 04/26/2004 03:53 PM
More viral shenanigans

Zombie PCs spew out 80% of spam

Zombie PCs spew out 80% of spam 06/04/2004 08:38 AM
Migmaf, SoBig et al power junk mail tsunami

Zombie PCs.... not just for mail spam
any more

Zombie PCs.... not just for mail spam
any more 06/14/2004 07:39 PM
Nope, looks like they're used for blog spam now too. At least it looks that way from my MT logs, as I look at all the stuff that MT-Blacklist has blocked. (Mmmmm, MT-blacklist goodness. Regardless of whatever happens with MT 3.x's license, code, or fortune cookies, there's no way in hell I'm switching from the MT2.661 setup I have now if there's no blacklist equivalent for it) Dunno whether they're generic web proxies, or blog-spam-specific things. Since the wave hit more than a week ago it's tough to tell for sure, since dynamic IP addresses for dialup machines and whatnot'll...

Rise of zombie PCs 'threatens UK'

Rise of zombie PCs 'threatens UK' 03/22/2005 04:30 PM
The UK leads the world in home computers that have been hijacked by malicious hackers, warns a report.

How to Survive a Zombie Attack

How to Survive a Zombie Attack 04/19/2005 03:40 AM
I finally saw Dawn of the Dead (2004), and I just have to wonder, did these people even think about how they would survive a zombie attack? Since we've had a rash of zombie movies lately - 28 Day, Shaun of the Dead - I think someone needs to publish a zombie survival guide to help these people out. And that someone is me, because I for one don't welcome our new zombie overlords.

P-cube goes hunting for zombie PCs

P-cube goes hunting for zombie PCs 09/22/2004 10:33 AM
Night of the living spam
Grok Description matches for Comcast Finally Takes Action Against Zombie Machines
GrokA matches for Comcast Finally Takes Action Against Zombie Machines

ISP Telenor cripples zombie PC network

ISP Telenor cripples zombie PC network 09/10/2004 11:16 AM
Authorities in Singapore shut down a large network of around 10,000 robot, or "zombie," computers this week, after technicians at Norwegian Internet service provider (ISP) Telenor ASA stumbled on the illicit network by tracing Internet Relay Chat (IRC) communications from compromised customer PCs on its system.

Going price for network of zombie PCs:
$2,000-$3,000 (USATODAY.com)

Going price for network of zombie PCs:
$2,000-$3,000 (USATODAY.com) 09/08/2004 07:08 AM
USATODAY.com - In the calculus of Internet crime, two of the most sought-after commodities are zombie PCs and valid e-mail addresses.

Bagle copycat builds Zombie attack
network

Bagle copycat builds Zombie attack
network 07/16/2004 05:27 AM
Apprentice worm

UK tops Zombie PC list

UK tops Zombie PC list 03/22/2005 04:23 PM

I came across an article to day at article

Zombie Networks On The Rise

Zombie Networks On The Rise 09/20/2004 08:56 AM

Zombie car raised from dead

Zombie car raised from dead 03/30/2005 11:30 AM
The Aurora   (mostly pictures, slightly more info here). One car, two men, three decades of rust. Guy buys truly hideous 1957 prototype car from junkyard, restores it to gleaming unsightliness. Conne_ticut?

Symantec: Zombie-PC Army Growing

Symantec: Zombie-PC Army Growing 09/21/2004 05:05 AM
eBCVG.com Sep 21 2004 9:24AM GMT

Zombie PC army responsible for big name
web blackout

Zombie PC army responsible for big name
web blackout 06/17/2004 05:12 AM
Silicon.com Jun 17 2004 9:05AM GMT

Zombie PCs generate 80 per cent of spam

Zombie PCs generate 80 per cent of spam 06/04/2004 05:57 AM

Zombie PCs phish, spam, harass on the
sly

Zombie PCs phish, spam, harass on the
sly 09/09/2004 07:05 AM
USA Today Sep 9 2004 11:36AM GMT

"Bush/Zombie Reagan site"

"Bush/Zombie Reagan site" 06/11/2004 12:52 PM

Zombie PCs spew out 80% of spam | The
Register

Zombie PCs spew out 80% of spam | The
Register 06/05/2004 07:22 AM
machines hijacked by Trojan-horse infections .. Zombie PCs spew out 80% of spam

theregister.co.uk/2004/06/04/trojan_spam_study
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Zombie PCs phish, spam, harass

Zombie PCs phish, spam, harass 09/10/2004 01:44 AM
Usatoday.com - Thu Sep 9, 08:52 pm GMT

"Bush/Zombie Reagan 2004"

"Bush/Zombie Reagan 2004" 06/12/2004 09:26 AM

Zombie PCs caused Web outage, Akamai
says

Zombie PCs caused Web outage, Akamai
says 06/21/2004 05:59 AM
CNET Jun 21 2004 10:25AM GMT

Zombie SMTP 1.0 (Default branch)

Zombie SMTP 1.0 (Default branch) 03/19/2005 03:22 AM
Zombie SMTP is a tool written to help interrupt spammers' activity. It pretends to be an SMTP server but all it really does is hold onto a connection for 20 mins if the source IP address of the connection is registered in one or more of the pre-defined RBLs. The purpose of this is to simply waste spammers' time if they try to connect to Zombie SMTP to relay their spam. Any connection from a machine not listed in the RBLs is automatically disconnected, this is to prevent authentic servers from tying up their resources who for some reason try to connect to this SMTP server.

Comcast Finally Takes Action Against Zombie Machines

The following phrases have been identified by the grok system as matching this entry: specialham.com sms messaging hijacked "zombie network" clean adium zombie subpoena "dynamic ip" verizon