Microsoft's Charney Suggests 'Net Tax to Clean Computers

[Paul Ferguson <fergdawgster () gmail com>]

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What?!

PC World.

[snip]

How will we ever get a leg up on hackers who are infecting computers
worldwide? Microsoft's security chief laid out several suggestions Tuesday,
including a possible Internet usage tax to pay for the inspection and
quarantine of machines.

Today most hacked PCs run Microsoft's Windows operating system, and the
company has invested millions in trying to fight the problem.

Microsoft recently used the U.S. court system to shut down the Waledac
botnet, introducing a new tactic in the battle against hackers. Speaking at
the RSA security conference in San Francisco, Microsoft Corporate Vice
President for Trustworthy Computing Scott Charney said that the technology
industry needs to think about more "social solutions."

That means fighting the bad guys at several levels, he said. "Just like we
do defense in depth in IT, we have to do defense in depth in [hacking]
response."

"I actually think the health care model ... might be an interesting way to
think about the problem," Charney said. With medical diseases, there are
education programs, but there are also social programs to inspect people
and quarantine the sick.

This model could work to fight computer viruses too, he said. When a
computer user allows malware to run on his computer, "you're not just
accepting it for yourself, you're contaminating everyone around you," he
said.

The idea that Internet service providers might somehow step up in the fight
against malware is not new. The problem, however, is cost.

[snip]

More:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/190581/microsofts_charney_sug
gests_net_tax_to_clean_computers.html

Enjoy.

- - ferg

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-- 
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawgster(at)gmail.com
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/
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