Comcast’s Impressive System for Notifying Infected Users


Return Path's J.D. Falk reports on Comcast's efforts to let customers know when their home computers are infected: Pushing infectees into walled garden, redirecting them to a page warning them that their network connection is infected.

J.D. Writes: "As one of the world’s largest access providers, our partner Comcast has put a ton of thought into developing a notification system for their users. Their motivation is clear, and close to the heart of anyone working in security for end user systems: 'to advise the user that their computer is infected with malware, that their security is at severe risk and/or has already been compromised, and that it is recommended that they take immediate, corrective action NOW.'"

J.D. also touches on the concern over network neutrality, and the potential concern over this type of monitoring being considered at odds with network neutrality. I'm an advocate for network neutrality, for sure. But I am also an advocate for locking down and securing computers that are spewing infections and spam. I, personally, think this is the right thing to do, and I don't think that this process is incompatible with the broader goals of network neutrality. What do you think?
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