FBI tells the public to call their ISP for help

Thu Jun 14 02:37:30 UTC 2007

On Wed, 13 Jun 2007, Roland Dobbins wrote:
> 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.

Its great to see FBI agents and the DOJ taking more interest in the 
problem of Bots and computer intrusions.  I'm especially happy to see 
some arrests.  The focus on home-grown bad guys was also good, instead
of pointing the finger at some random other country.  There are more than
enough bad guys in more than enough countries to go around.  If US law 
enforcement makes any progress at home, each other country can work on
their native bad guys.

Unfortunately, most FBI agents probably have about as much control over 
the FBI press office as most ISP security engineers have over their 
marketing departments.  While FBI agents may be working with ISP security 
engineers, I suspect the FBI press office didn't bothered to vet or 
coordinate its press release with ISPs before issuing it.  We've
all cringed at one time or another at what our respective marketing
teams come up with.