Bruce Schneier points out—you know he would!—some of his issues with Microsoft’s proposal to quarantine infected computers. He’s not against the idea in principle. For it to work, though, it has to have a good chance of success.
Schneier’s main concern is that hackers will be motivated to get around the software, initiating another security arms race. Bruce does note that Internet access restrictions would work better if ISPs are the central authorities in deciding who can leave their digital houses.
Of course, as he rightly notes, there would be all kinds of forces, not necessarily benign, who would want their say in this matter.Here’s Schneier:
Microsoft would certainly like to quarantine any computers it feels are not running legal copies of its operating system or applications software.The music and movie industry will want to quarantine anyone it decides is downloading or sharing pirated media files–they’re already pushing similar proposals.
Related articles
- Internet Quarantines (schneier.com)
- Microsoft’s Solution to Cyber Attacks: PC Health Certificates (technoverseblog.com)
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