Virgin tackling malware threat... by letter

[POSTMAN]

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/broadband/3 ... -by-letter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Virgin Media is taking the fight against malware peddlers offline, employing the postman to deliver warning letters to customers that their computers might be infected.

Customers on the network suspected of hosting malware will receive a letter with advice on how to fix the problem, the company said.

While the company could make use of its up to 50Mbits/sec network to send the messages over email, it has opted for the low-tech, snail mail approach to help build confidence among customers, who Virgin says are wary of spam-style emails.

Sometimes email from companies gets missed because people think it is spam

“The letters are on headed paper, so they are obviously from us and they are the first step in the process and we'll be looking at email too,” a Virgin spokesperson told PC Pro. “Sometimes email from companies gets missed because people think it is spam or think it is from someone else pretending to be from a company – a letter is a sensible approach.”

Shadowserver support

Virgin said it would partner with the Shadowserver Foundation, a collection of security professionals from around the world, which would alert it to any IP addresses it thought represented infected computers.

Virgin says anyone found to be infected will be contacted via a letter detailing free ways to scan computers and remove viruses, as well as contact details for its paid-for Digital Home Support.

The company promised the data would be kept private, pointing out that the Shadowserver Foundation was already tracking the spread of viruses and that there would be no exchange of personal information between the partners.

“The system tracks viruses, not users, and the information we get is just that an IP address has an infection, whether it's the Zeus bot or something else,” the spokesman said. “We're not tracking people to see where they are going and getting the viruses.”

The letter campaign follows Virgin Media research that showed one in four users of its Digital Home Support had contacted the service to resolve issues with malware.

Read more: Virgin tackling malware threat... by letter | Broadband | News | PC Pro http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/broadband/3 ... z0wmduFYb0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[DGP1]

Sometimes email from companies gets missed because people think it is spam

Sometimes unless I'm expecting an e-mail from a specific person/company then I just delete them without thinking

[DirtyHarry]

Sometimes email from companies gets missed because people think it is spam

Sometimes unless I'm expecting an e-mail from a specific person/company then I just delete them without thinking

Same here.

[not me]

so mail is now up because of email?