Anonymous

Bucks., England

Software Enfgineer

Why not trace the point-of-entry ISPs for viruses and spam, and email THEM?

Perhaps, rather than removing such notifications altogether, antivirus and antispam software manufacturers could be persuaded to add sufficient forensic intelligence into the software to analyze the message headers more accurately and trace the ISP owning the point of entry of the virus or spam into the Internet. The software could then email the relevant abuse@ address.

If the ISP postmasters dislike receiving the many such notifications then, maybe, just maybe, they will take a more active stance in warning users of the consequences of their infections or actions.

Tracing the originating ISP is not rocket-science!

Obviously, a more palatable solution for ISPs would be to scan incoming mail from end-users for viruses and spam, and warn them directly without forwarding the message. This would probably be better for users, too. It would be up to the user to justify to the ISP why the message should be sent, and encourage them to clean up their system faster, so they can send their mail freely again.

If ISPs allow spammers to connect via themselves or their users, then I believe they deserve to be effectively mail-bombed by anti-spam software (well, at least once for each target recipient of a spam message...).