Fred Bassett

UK

IT

The most obvious short term solution here is for ISP's to block IRC traffic unless the subscriber requests it's activated. My guess is that most 'bots' communicate with their 'controller' through IRC channels, and most users these days wouldn't know what IRC was if they were slapped by it.

ISP's can do a LOT more to secure up their customers but none are prepared to 'take the responsibility' of it all. The irony of it is, that if they did, the immediate drop in bandwidth requirements would fund their efforts for years to come.

Then of course there is the obvious 2 stage method of security that online banks could easily use to stamp out phishing, but so far none have. There's loads of companies that can provide them with cost effective solutions - www.validsoft.com is just one I can think of.

Computer security is solvable but no-one wants to 'pay for it'. Instead consumers pay for it, and trust erodes. It's time someone stood up and got something done instead of talking all the time - jeez, this 'threat' has been here for 10 years or more already, what's going on?