Comcast Pop-ups Alert Customers to PC Infections

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I’ll let you guys decided if this is a good idea or a bad idea. I thought we were just getting the message across to regular internet users that pop-ups like this were almost always malware?

A new automated service that will warn broadband customers of possible virus infections, if the computers are behaving as if they have been compromised by malware. For instance, a significant overnight spike in traffic being sent from a particular Internet Protocol address could signal that a computer is infected with a virus taking control of the system and using it to send spam as part of a botnet.
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This is good as long as it's just a notice, and not trying to actually fix the problem for you.
 
So wait... would this do some kind of browser redirection or would it be if you navigated to their home page or something? I'm not exactly thrilled about the principles behind the former.
 
This implies that they are watching what is happening to your machine client side. Not good.
 
So this service tells people to take browser pop-ups seriously? Isn't that encouraging bad habits?
 
Wait, wouldn't one have to install some kind of Comcast software before they could do this? I have Comcast high speed internet, and I wouldn't even dream of installing any of their crap on my machine.
 
This seems like a bad idea, so comcast is changing the http traffic data at their server when going to a infected pc ip.
 
yet another reason to leave comcrap. asif they don't do enough monitoring already? and automatically assume you're up to no good with their precious bandwidth?

I love how I can get on xbox live and they automatically throttle my connection after they see me playing for awhile, and I lag out as a result. or i'll watch a 5+ minute clip on youtube and it'll bog down at some point, and then its damn near impossible to watch any clip at all. but the next day it works again, till they decide to throttle me again. that's why I haven't bothered using netflix streaming.

and I know its not my router because I can send things out very quickly to and from my computer to others on the network, and even hooking up directly to the cable modem doesn't resolve it. its either that or the cable modem's fubar, which I doubt.

oh well. as soon as U-verse or fios hit my area, I will get a second job if necessary to keep it and not put up with this shit.
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Well...my thoughts are that a good huge chunk of the know-nothings that are on the 'net are infected with all sorts of malware anyways, yet stay completely oblivious to it. I mean, hell, they're better off not even knowing because once they see the pop-up, they're gonna google "free anti virus" and then end up downloading more viruses. :p
 
Bad idea, I am sure its just another way for comcast to redirect users to some comcast site to sell AV software.
 
really, samurai? Are you that naive that you don't think EVERYONE isn't monitoring your every move on the internet? Every ISP will do this. Hell, right now I'm at work and our security guys are saving every packet of data that leaves our network, w/ every piece of information about it. Everyone has to follow the ol' CYA rule.

You're paranoid to think that they are throttling your xbox live, but you're not paranoid enough if you think comcast is the only one keeping track of what it's users are doing on their infrastructure. The "sandvine" incident was a huge egg in their face, and they quickly retracted the system. Are you implying the implemented xboxvine, a method of making broadband gaming terrible? How would that benefit them? I'm just askin'.

As for this service, I am curious as to the delivery method, as someone else mentioned. If it's an agentless thing that comes down piggybacking on my normal web traffic and it's just a nag that i can clear or something to make it go away, i won't mind. I'd say that could even be useful. If it's something that only works if you have their comcast software installed (i don't) then ok, that's fine, but i don't use that so it won't help me. If they are going to push down their OWN malware to send me these notices? That's when i'd be pissed. I doubt that's the case though. It's probably similar to their new system of fixing dns name typos, where it takes you to a custom redirect, or something.
 
Verizon has just finished molesting my street to lay teh fiberz. It cannot go live soon enough.
 
Very pointless idea. This would get spoofed very quickly. Even if it does not, how would Joe Sixpack tell the difference between Comcast's messages and pop-ups that tell him his PC's infected and scares him into installing a rogue security app?

Here's an idea... Why doesn't Comcast post walkthrough links on their home page showing their customers how to check for infections and remove them?

Something like

1)Unhackme 2)Combofix 3)CCleaner 4)NOD32 Trial 5)MalwareBytes 6)Superantispyware 7) Dial-a-fix 8)Winsock Fix 9)All clean :)

with the pretty detailed pictures

Comcast is not helping anyone. Just making themselves look better
 
JasperW said:
really, samurai? Are you that naive that you don't think EVERYONE isn't monitoring your every move on the internet? Every ISP will do this. Hell, right now I'm at work and our security guys are saving every packet of data that leaves our network, w/ every piece of information about it. Everyone has to follow the ol' CYA rule.
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I'm sure that there is monitoring everywhere. But if they're monitoring as closely as your dedicated security team at work, more pedophiles would be behind bars and illegal porn distributors would be in prison, and warez wouldn't be an issue. and there wouldn't be stories of Geek Squad finding a PC loaded with gigs of the stuff.

You're paranoid to think that they are throttling your xbox live, but you're not paranoid enough if you think comcast is the only one keeping track of what it's users are doing on their infrastructure. The "sandvine" incident was a huge egg in their face, and they quickly retracted the system. Are you implying the implemented xboxvine, a method of making broadband gaming terrible? How would that benefit them? I'm just askin'.
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Its not paranoia. Its just simple truth. I just find it funny that all of a sudden I can't play a multiplayer game for longer than ten minutes before all of a sudden I get horrible lag, even when there's hardly anybody in the game. A couple years back, I didn't have that problem. I don't know if they were already throttling then or if they were only doing it in certain areas, but I know I didn't have a problem then. Hell, even in 2001, I never had that problem. This year, it seems to be a problem. I'm not saying they implemented anything. I just find it a little weird that anytime I start doing anything that requires streaming or a noticable amount of bandwidth, all of a sudden its like my 6Mbps connection became a cup on a string. I can't use the Youtube thing as a judge because sometimes its just Youtube being hit hard, I will concede that much.

I don't see how it would benefit them, but I do know its pissing me off. The only thing that would even remotely benefit them is that it helps conserve bandwidth. To that I say to hell with them. I know about the cap, and there's no way in hell I could seriously come close to hitting that even if I played every day for 6 hours a day. I barely even play 2 hours a day in total breakdown, and even if I do its single player games that don't require much net connection at all past posting achievements, and I'm just on Live to talk to friends if they happen to pop on. Sometimes I even go an entire month without playing because I can't put up with this shit.

Like I said, it could be my cable modem is fubar, and maybe its bias, but I don't have reason to believe that.
 
SamuraiInBlack said:
Like I said, it could be my cable modem is fubar, and maybe its bias, but I don't have reason to believe that.
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IMO thats it. I am also a comcast user. i work from home and am at my PC for 10-12 hours a day 5 days a week, Streaming movies while i work either to my pc or to my yelevision via netflix on my x box. I've never, ever had a proble with comcast "throttling " my bandwidth.
 
AT&T 2wire routers will also tell you when you have some situations that indicate a virus. This is a great idea for the moron customers, but you should be able to turn it off in case it's a problem.
 
how the heck can they shoot a message from their remote side to your PC without unauthorized access to your machine?
theyd get sued big time
 
VIC-20 said:
Very pointless idea. This would get spoofed very quickly. Even if it does not, how would Joe Sixpack tell the difference between Comcast's messages and pop-ups that tell him his PC's infected and scares him into installing a rogue security app?
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Where do you think the infection Joe Moron doesn't know he has came from...

VIC-20 said:
Here's an idea... Why doesn't Comcast post walkthrough links on their home page showing their customers how to check for infections and remove them?
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ROFLMAOPIMPGAHBMHATWSTCA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The biggest reason that this is likely to fail is that joe moron won't read the popup before closing it; and you're suggesting that comcast put together a set of directions that need to be read and require them to do more than click a single button.

ROFLMAOPIMPGAHBMHATWSTCA!!!!!!!!!!!!!




PS yes that full acronym does mean something. ;)
 
Comcast is awful. Can't wait for Fios to get here so I can kick this kind of stuff out the door for good.
 
I would be worried that this will be spoofed and the average idiot would be tricked into installing something malicious to "clean" their computer. I don't see this as being very effective in the long run.
 
It should be an e-mail or automated phone call. As others have said, it's just good practice to ignore pop-ups; especially the ones saying "YOUR COMPUTER IS INFECTED!!!!"
 
Hey, they invested $millions in all that equipment used to inspect, detect and "manage" P2P before the FCC shut them down...sounds like they've found a new use for it all! I don't like they idea of having anyone inspect my traffic, but I am also not so naive the think that it is not happening. At least doing this help everyone stay aware of the fact that their internet use is not as private as they think - and they might even stop a few bots while they are at it.
 
samuraiinblack: it's also possible that when you're trying to play games, the skript kiddie who lives next door to you is downloading a crapload of warez and is maxing out your dslam, causing packetloss and overall craptastic experience. That's the "beauty" of a semi-shared medium. I've been lucky, and get tremendously fast internet via comcast,but i have friends on the same service who live only miles away who get drastically different experiences.

You may be able to complain and get them to add additional bandwidth to the aggregate in your neighborhood, or something...might be a tough sell but i tmight be worth a try.

Good luck. Sorry if i came off as a dick in my last post, in retrospect it was dickish, and not intended :)
 
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