FBI tells the public to call their ISP for help

Wed Jun 13 22:35:07 UTC 2007

On Jun 13, 2007, at 11:49 AM, Sean Donelan wrote:

> BTW, 1 million compromised computers is probably a low estimate.

Besides the 'call your ISP for technical help' blunder, there's  
actually more useful info, believe it or not, in the press release  
linked in the article:

<http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel07/botnet061307.htm>

The FBI aren't claiming only 1 million infected machines, they're  
saying that this particular sweep involves up to a million botted hosts.

It seems to me that the larger inference is that law enforcement are  
taking the botnet problem more seriously, which is what a lot of  
folks in the operational community have been advocating for a long  
time.  While one aspect of the messaging is questionable, it seems to  
me that active national-level LEO involvement in this problem-space  
would be welcomed by many.

It's just a first step, and those are always the hardest to take.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Roland Dobbins <rdobbins at cisco.com> // 408.527.6376 voice

                    Equo ne credite, Teucri.

     		          -- Laocoön