Is your computer a “zombie”? You could lose your email access if it is!

Caution: if you are one of those Internet users who unwittingly send out millions of "spam" messages you could have your Internet access removed and be taken offline. At least, so say four of the world’s largest email providers.

The Anti-Spam Technical Alliance, which counts Yahoo!, Microsoft AOL, and others among its members, recently released a set of recommendations to halt the proliferation of junk email. They told other e-mail providers that spam couldn’t be stopped unless they take responsibility for the problem.

One of those recommendations calls on Internet Service Providers or ISPs, to cut all email service for any users whose computers have been turned into "zombie" spam-launching systems. Further, they state it doesn’t matter if you are unaware that your system has been hijacked or not.

So what, in computer terms, exactly is a “zombie”?

Zombies are computers that have been taken over by hackers and spammers, who then use the machine as a launching pad for malicious attacks. The Anti-Spam Technical Alliance is urging all Internet service providers to police their networks more vigorously and to cut off machines being used as zombies.

It has been suggested that the zombie problem has by and large gone unchecked because service providers have not been monitoring their networks adequately. Whilst some large Internet service providers might monitor their networks, identifying those computers that send out unusually large amounts of email, some do not. Often when found, these machines are identified & their Internet access blocked until the owner comes forward.

Isn’t that rather drastic?

With nearly 85 percent of all email now estimated to be some kind of Spam or another it is believed that at a minimum, at least two-thirds of all spam is sent via hijacked zombie systems. That said however, many believe the real figure is probably much closer to 90 percent.

This is estimated to cost Internet providers alone about $A730 million each year in wasted bandwidth, legal bills and additional customer-service costs. All of which eventually finds its way down the food chain to end users in the way of additional costs and lack of Internet performance.

Most importantly of course is that Spam is killing the email system and turning many people off what has been a fantastic and affordable means of communication for the masses.

Wouldn’t cutting people off cause a massive problem? Isn’t there another way?

Cutting off e-mail service to 90 percent of an ISP’s customers of course could cause serious problems, just considering the massive volume of customer support service calls alone. ISP’s would obviously be inundated with some fairly unhappy customers, especially if they were using email as an integral part of their businesses communications systems. So perhaps the “thin edge of the wedge” would start with a more realistic expectation of ISP’s restricting outgoing emails to say 100 or so per day.

That way Internet users could then be notified that their computers must be cleared, cleaned and made safe before they can send any more messages. Researchers have also determined that spammers are increasingly personalising spam by monitoring recipients through “spyware” programs, so much so that a recent survey calculated that one-third of all Internet enabled computers have been infected with spyware.

Suspicious accounts could be promptly suspended in much the same way a credit-card company would look for suspicious spending patterns on your credit card. That way an ISP could contact you or secure your account immediately.

So what do Internet users need to do then?

According to the Alliance this means that businesses and people who use the Internet will need to patch security holes in their systems, adopting new standards to prevent forged e-mail, and isolating customer computers that been taken over by spammers.

It seems they are hoping that by forcing people to adopt these best practices they will catalyse a lot of the other Internet providers into doing the same thing and further reduce the problem.

Of course one of the easiest ways to help alleviate viruses is to install a good anti-virus program and ensure it is constantly updated with the latest updates.

Has anything been done to stop Spam so far?

Under the auspices of the Anti-Spam Technical Alliance, Yahoo, Microsoft and other companies have sued spammers and are developing standards that will make it easier to pinpoint fraudulent e-mail sources.

A great many Internet companies have also tried to make sure their equipment has been properly secured so spammers can't route their messages through them in order to cover their tracks and evade filters.

However perhaps the biggest challenge has been trying to make sure their customers have not had their computers unwittingly turned into zombies that then unknowingly become slaves to illegal and unethical behaviour by being turned into unwitting spammers.

A spate of viruses and worms over the past year has allowed spammers to route their traffic through personal computers, allowing come-ons for low mortgage rates and herbal Viagra to appear as if they're coming from a trusted friend.

Another standard developed by Yahoo would embed encrypted digital signatures into e-mail messages for the same purpose.

For more information try some of these sites:

• Anti-spam technical alliance publishes industry recommendations to help stop spam.
• An arsenal to combat spyware
• Experts: Sixth son of Sobig not the last
• Researchers warn of infectious web sites

Arthur Hissey
Computer Research & Technology
www.crt.net.au