AOL has the most infected network in the world
IT security consulting firm Prolexic claims that AOL’s network hosts more zombie-infectd PCs than any other in the world. Infected machines can be used by remote hackers to instigate distributed denial of service (DoS) attacks.
Of all the DoS attacks that originated from the US, 11.7 percent came from AOL’s network.
From a European perspective the study also criticised Deutsche Telekom, Wanadoo and AOL as being Europe’s top three offenders for harbouring infected PCs. My own ISP, Telewest came in at 12th which isn’t bad, although the roll-out of PCguard should help to improve this position.
Barrett Lyon, chief technology officer at Prolexic, said:
“It should not be a surprise to find that some of the most high profile ISPs are most susceptible to providing a safe haven for large numbers of zombie PCs.
“It is these networks which are continually being exploited to support large scale DoS attacks. Just because a home user subscribes to a reputable brand does not mean that they are safe from the online criminal fraternity.”
More on this topic: Silicon Valley Sleuth
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