If you hadn't heard lately, Spam is out of hand. Even the new CAN-SPAM act has done little to curb the amount of garbage sent to our inbox. Recently, the Anti-Spam Technical Alliance (ASTA), a consortium of companies like America Online, Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Earthlink, proposed a radical spam solution. The proposal focuses not on the spammers themselves, but on the hijacked computers known as "Zombies" that spammers use to send e-mails with. It's estimated that 75% of spam is sent through these Zombies. Basically, a virus takes control of an unsuspecting computer and uses it to send spam without the computer's owner knowing it. The only clue a person will usually get is an extremely slow and sluggish computer. A recent article at USA Today highlighted the problem with hijacked computers.

The basic idea of the proposal is to cut off your Internet access if your machine is hijacked and used as a spamming tool. While that may be a possible band-aid, that is not going to solve the problem.

The first step has to be to educate the consumer on how to protect their machine from being taken over. So whose responsibility is that? Well, my answer is that it has to be the Internet service provider. While these issues can happen with dial-up access, the main focus needs to be on "always on" connects like DSL, Cable, and T1 connections.

In most cases when a new subscriber signs up for high speed Internet, they receive little or no information about the dangers of viruses or other computer hazards. Sometimes the expectation is that if you have a computer, you're savvy to all the hidden dangers. Well, that's not the case for every computer user, nor should it be expected to be. A computer is very much a "learn-as-you-go" adventure and, that being said, experience is the only thing that will usually make a computer user more cautious. The key is to try to educate the computer user as much as possible. That's why the Internet providers should provide basic computer protection information at the time of install and to also have an easy to find computer protection resource section on the provider's homepage. Sure, not everyone will take the time to read and implement those suggestions and tips, but that's where we have to start.

I've drafted a very simple and generic sample letter that should be in every new subscriber's package.

Welcome to High-Speed Internet Access

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your recent subscription to our high-speed Internet service. We're excited about your decision to surf the Internet at blazing speed, making your computer an experience, not just a tool.

While high-speed Internet access offers an experience unlike any you've ever tried, there are some extremely important issues you must be aware of and a few steps you should take immediately to protect your computer.

1. Unlike dial-up service, you are always connected to the Internet. That means your computer can be vulnerable to attack from outside sources.
2. Whenever you download something (music, pictures, etc.), it's very possible to download a hidden file known as a Virus, Trojan, or Spyware. There are some tools that you will want to have installed on your computer to combat these issues.
   1. Virus: Viruses can cause serious damage to your computer and are usually hidden in with downloaded software packages. Here is a link to a good virus tutorial. There are many anti-virus programs on the market like Norton AntiVirus and McAfee VirusScan. A good freeware option is AVG Anti-Virus.
   2. Trojan: A Trojan is a program that usually puts a "backdoor" on your computer so that someone can remotely control it. These Trojans can be used for mass spam e-mailing, Denial of Service Attacks (DOS), and more. While anti-virus software can identify some Trojan software, it's best to use a standalone Trojan scanner. There is quite a bit of good information about Trojans at http://anti-trojan.com/.
   3. Spyware: Spyware is a program that has several purposes, like relaying user habits to advertising companies and tracking user surfing habits. While not always malicious, Spyware will definitely slow down your computer and can even make it unusable. We recommend Spybot S&D or Ad-aware as freeware options to keep your computer protected.
3. Another way that hackers can access your computer is through ports. Basically a port is a doorway that allows data like e-mail, Internet, etc. to enter and exit your computer. A firewall can protect those ports and keep unauthorized data from coming into or leaving your computer. There are several types of firewall solutions that include hardware and/or software. Here is a good FAQ on firewalls. Also a free, quick, and easy software firewall to look at is ZoneAlarm.

We hope that this information is valuable to you and helps you protect your computer. While it may be a small amount of work protecting your computer, the payoff will be immense. Your computer should run faster and smoother, guaranteeing a pleasurable user experience. We request that all of our customers follow the simple guidelines above to ensure a fast and stable computing network.

In the event that your computer is used in Denial of Service Attacks, Mass e-mailing, or anything else that is detrimental to the network, we will take steps to help you solve those issues. We will contact you and/or temporarily disable your Internet access to resolve these issues. If your system is compromised and your service temporarily disabled, a simple phone call to us will enable us to give you some advice to protect yourself and get you up and running in no time.

Thank you for your time and we appreciate your business.

*We do not endorse any of the above products. We list some examples for your benefit, but you'll want to do some research for the product that works best for you.

Note: If a provider really wanted to, they could also finish with a statement that says after several instances of your computer being compromised, service can be disrupted until a suitable fix has been implemented (for those companies that want to lay down the law).

Will that work for every customer? Nope! But at least the ISPs will be able to say they tried to inform the consumer before they disable the Internet service of unprotected computers. For now the ball is in the providers' courts and after they do what they can to inform and educate, I'll support the Anti-Spam Technical Alliance's suggestion.