Government, Industry Organizations Unite to Launch “Anti-Bot Code of Conduct” for ISPs
In an acronym filled announcement from the Online Trust Alliance (OTA), it’s being reported that the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC), voted to approve a voluntary initiative for U.S. ISP’s, known as the Anti-Bot Code of Conduct for ISPs, or ABCs for ISPs. That’s a mouthful for sure, but if it works, millions of consumers will benefit from the program.
According to the group, approximately ten percent of the computers in the U.S. are infected by some form of malware that is linked to a botnet. Just recently, the FBI with the help of a university professor took down an organized crime ring, which leveraged the Zeus botnet in order to steal more than $70 million from some 400 businesses.
Given the financial and personal impact that such malicious applications can pose, the FCC’s CSRIC worked with several organizations – including the OTA and its members – to develop the so-called ABCs for ISPs.
The voluntary initiative will certainly have an impact over time. It isn’t a silver bullet, but it is a step in the right direction.
The OTA, along with PayPal, Microsoft, Symantec, and IID, Comcast and CenturyLink, spent 12 months developing the code of conduct. Already, according to the OTA, residential users are realizing the additional layer of protection.
Some 23 million of the 81 million broadband-connected households in the U.S. are covered by ISPs implementing the five areas of the Code of Conduct including, education, detection, notification, remediation, and collaboration.
AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Time Warner, T-Mobile, and Cox Communications were also part of the working group that helped develop the code.
The ISPs who are taking part in the initiative, a CSRIC report says, are benefiting from reduced upstream traffic, spam, and helpdesk calls.
More information about the ABCs for ISPs can be viewed here.