Infected computers for sale

primesuspect

ArsTechnica.com has a writeup linking to an article in USA Today about the sale of infected PCs for spammers' use.

Source: ArsTechnica.com

TheSmJ

I'm not sure if it's the people who write the malware, or the people who allow it to fester in their computers which I hate more. I fully support the idea of forcing compromised machines offline (after one warning from their ISP). I'm beginning to think it's just as much the zombie owners fault for allowing their computers to be infected as it is the malware writers writing the code to create the zombies in the first place.

These days, carelessly keeping your computer unprotected and unscanned from viruses and malware is even worse than not keeping you car door locked. If somebody broke into your car because you left it unlocked, it will likely only be a burden on you. But, if you don't use a good firewall and malware/virus scanners on your computer, you're carelessness/ignorance will pester thousands of people, including making things worse for yourself.

Virus scanners, malware scanners, and even good firewalls are free to use and easy to obtain. There's no good reason why people shouldn't be using these devices.

Ignorance is no excuse either. Perhaps some sort of law should be passed forcing one to take a 2 day class in basic computer protection and safe surfing habits before they are allowed to obtain any sort of broadband connection.