“The project was announced today at the German IT summit in Stuttgart. Starting in 2010, ISPs will track down customers with infected PCs, e.g., by looking for communication with botnet controllers. These customers will then be directed to a special website offering advice on removing the malware. If this is unsuccessful (or the site is blocked by the malware), people will get access to a call center, where a staff of about 40 will try to fix the problem,” Weimer reports.
“SPIEGEL ONLINE reports that the BSI refused to disclose the costs for the project, citing procurement regulations,” Weimer reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Not unbelievable, unfortunately.
It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error. — Robert Houghwout Jackson
Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action. — George Washington
The nine most dangerous words in the English language are “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” — Ronald Reagan
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Mark P.” and “NixoN” for the heads up.]
Geez, talk about German Engineering, you might think they should have known better about computers and Operating Systems!
Julian @ http://no-spamming/
MDN, Your three quotes obviously have an anti government agenda.
I think you need to keep in mind what government truly is and what functions it performs. Civilization would not exist without government.
Is there not some sort of disconnect that those same contemporary “anti government” political types in this country are the same ones who joyously promote it (even by military means sometimes) abroad as the best for everybody every where. Here in our “democracy” government is bad, in other nations democracy good because we say so.
If you take the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution at their face value, is not the government in fact “We The People”? It is We The People who need to ensure that these two documents are adhered to. You can bet your ass the Australian Rupert Murdoch could care less about them.
When private economic institutions fail, say as in 1929 or 2008, what societal organizational structure is left to pick up the pieces? Government.
Furthermore, what organization has a codified set of laws that guarantees your freedom? Primarily the foundational set of laws in the USA, the Bill of Rights. Hint, it is not mega corporations. Internally, corporations can be and many are utterly lawless tyrannies.
The anti-government drumbeat these past thirty years has been largely promoted by those who want to profit without any sort of social responsibility. The ever increasing polarization of wealth and the ever more tense social divisions on our society are the predictable results, as well as the ever lower performance of our society compared to others on the planet. The USA has been on an anti government rightward tilt now for thirty years, how’s that working out?
There is good government and there is bad government. Little or no government is worse yet. Yes, government can threaten your freedoms. On the other hand government done right is the ONLY possible guarantor of your legal, political, and economic freedoms. Sure as hell Halliburton, AIG, Enron, the health insurance companies are not going to guarantee you any freedoms.
Tax any computer that participates in a botnet. A true Microsoft tax!
The eleven most dangerous words: “I’m from Micrsoft and I have a operating system for you.” MS is capitalism at its worse and with the lack of any real government intervention to throttle them, the world has had to put up with their absolute bull crap.
Nuclear Kid . . .
Seriously. The “private sector” definitely does STEAL and TRANSFER wealth from one individual to another.
Open your eyes.
and Grumbler?
I will quote without comment
“Right now the lawyers are telling Insurance Companies who are telling Doctors how to treat patients.
Are you ignorant or just stupid?
Consider this point. What is the difference between a corporation completely free of any legal constraints and the Mafia? “Free Markets” are the miracle cure for all ails us is a falsehood. A “free market” left to its own results in booms and busts, and the concentration of all the wealth in the hands of a very small percentage of the population, and very little if any freedom for the rest of us.
I have witnessed this trend . . . here in the USA personally over the last 40 years. I will say we are not quite like a third world country just yet, but the trends are clear.
Free enterprise is like a wild horse, or nuclear energy, it must be harnessed and controlled so its productive energies can be beneficial. Either that or it becomes a Frankenstein.
Frankenstein is running wild in the USAS right now.
Shoot, those hackers are getting tricky. …this time spreading malware and viruses in the form of supposed “government programs.” Heh, it’s clever, but do you honestly think that users would fall fo………
Wait, what’s this?
0_o
Frick.
Redmond, Washington, home of that fat spider Steve Ballmer, now spinning his corporate-welfare-bum and Microsoft-tax web worldwide.
@84 Mac Guy: It worked in 1934.
What I want to yell to Germany is: SUCKERS!
Here we have an entire country doing Microsoft’s job for them. GREAT call MDN. This is indeed the equivalent of a BAILOUT for one of the most prosperous corporations on the planet. Sheer insanity.
But Mac OS X has had its first social engineering scam Trojan horse that established a botnet back in January and February 2009. It was documented performing a DDOS attack. So mustn’t throw stones. So I’ll stick to mud balls.
Situation: Microsoft don’t GAS about their customers if they can help it. Socialism to the rescue. What is going to happen in Germany will be an utter fiasco, revealing as usual just how horrifyingly bad security is on Windows.
But also note that this horror is encouraged by the fact that most users do not comprehend required security measures for their computers.
Let’s get basic here: MOST computer users do not make ANY kind of backup. Remember: The #1 Rule of Computing is: MAKE A BACKUP! So we’re talking about a sub-N00B level of comprehension for MOST computer users. And yet, there is no better security measure than a simple, required, backup.
(o_0)
So, have fun Germany!
But here’s a better idea: Use your socialist government structure to give all your citizens tax credit subsidies if they cut off the Windows root of the problem and:
GET A MAC!
@Nuclear Kid: well, you’re sort of right. Government takes money to operate – it gets the money from somewhere, unless you just want them to print it with nothing to back it up.
However, the point is that government is the only organization that can possibly provide certain services of common good (national defense, for example), and in some cases is better positioned to provide other services than private industry (one could reasonably posit that nuclear power would be operated less expensively and to far greater common benefit if the government were operating it).
Just because it says “government” on the label doesn’t mean it’s bad.
Reagan deregulated industry – we can see how that turned out …
I Could Care Less
Think about the meaning of that statement for a moment. If you are trying to say that you do not care about something, then you may be trying to say that it may not be possible for you to have less care about that particular subject.
If you “could care less,” this implies that you do have a certain amount of care for the topic. It would mean that you do care, at least a little, and this goes directly against the meaning that you are trying to express through this saying. You could care less, because you have some care to spare. So, what is the proper form of this apathetic idiom?
I Couldn’t Care Less
Whereas the previous statement implies that you do care for the subject, this statement says that it is not possible for you to care less about the subject. You could not care less, because you are already at the absolute minimum (zero) level of caring. It is not possible to care less than not to care at all.
I couldn’t care less about the latest trends in Christmas tree design, because I am not getting a Christmas tree this year. In fact, I don’t think I have erected a proper tree in over a decade. That’s why I couldn’t care less. It is not within the realm of logical possibility for me to care less than I currently do and, thus, I could not care less.
“Reagan deregulated industry – we can see how that turned out …”
From my POV that was the right idea. Except it was done in a way that let the greed driven parasites (GDPs) of the world suck the USA into the current depression.
Ideally we should all be given maximum choice. This is known as ‘Anarchy’. It need not have negative connotations. However, Positive Anarchy requires responsibility for one’s choice. GDPs never take responsibility. They instead take everything else they can lay their hands on. Thus the demise of all we consider precious in the USA.
Because of the enormous contingent of irresponsible people amidst humanity, there is always some sort of choice coercion required. I hate it, but then again I hate that part of humanity that can’t handle having choice.
So the trick is to provide maximum choice while using only moderate coercion, aka regulation, to keep the GDPs from raping mankind. Most people can’t even comprehend this system, let along how to run it. It flies right over the heads of most of the worthless dopes voted into political positions. So good luck getting a decent government. But we must strive.
That’s my rant and I’m sticking to it.