An Open Letter from the Federal Trade Commission to ISPs and Network Professionals:

Dear Network professionals:

We are writing on behalf of an international group of government agencies to request that your organization join a worldwide effort to prevent spammers from compromising consumers’ computers and using them as “spam zombies.” Our agencies are responsible for combating illegal spam through law enforcement, technical research, consumer and business education, policy development, and public-private partnerships.

Spammers use home computers to send bulk e-mails by the millions. They take advantage of security weaknesses to install hidden software that turns consumer computers into mail or proxy servers. They route bulk e-mail through these spam zombies, obscuring its true origin.

As an Internet Service Provider (ISP), your organization has an interest in the integrity of the e-mail system, which is threatened by the onslaught of spam routed through spam zombies. In addition, recipients may blame your organization for spam that appears to have originated from your system, or your customers’ systems. And the spam may cause your network connections to bear unnecessary loads, increasing your administrative costs.

We encourage you to implement these voluntary anti-zombie measures…

[Continue reading The Plague of the Zombies - An Open Letter from the FTC to ISPs and Networks]