Microsoft Wants to Ban Virus-Infected PCs From the Internet

@ 2010/10/08
In the film Star Trek III: The Search For Spock Captain Kirk, explaining to Spock why he came back for him, famously remarked, "Because the needs of the one... outweigh the needs of the many."

Apparently Microsoft's security department is of quite the opposite belief. It apparently feels that the needs of the one can be damned if they compromise the needs of the many. A top Microsoft executive voiced controversial opinions at the Information Security Solutions Europe (ISSE) Conference in Berlin, Germany this week, suggesting that ISPs ban users whose computers are shown to be infected with viruses.

Microsoft Senior Executive Scott Charney elaborates in a blog post, "Despite our best efforts, many consumer computers are host to malware or are part of a botnet. 'Bots,' networks of compromised computers controlled by hackers, can provide criminals with a relatively easy means to commit identity theft and also lead to much more devastating consequences if used for an attack on critical government infrastructure or financial systems."

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