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Seeing No Evil: Is It Time To Regulate the ISP Industry?

By Matt Villano

November 01, 2005 — CIO —

In a mock courthouse earlier this year, the smack of a gavel opened a case for the ages. Behind one bench, the defendants: Internet service providers, on trial for not providing adequate security to their customers. Behind the other bench, the plaintiffs: fictional companies ravaged by distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. The jury: hundreds of IT security professionals, packed into a conference room at the Gartner IT Security Summit to watch it all unfold.

The plaintiffs argued that ISPs could do much more to improve security by scanning subscriber computers, monitoring traffic and shutting down suspicious network uses. The defendants claimed that performing such scans would violate user privacy and that it would be impossible to distinguish malicious traffic from legitimate e-mails.

Accusations flew. The plaintiffs equated ISP intransigence to that of a homeowner whose property is dangerous but doesn’t buy a fence to keep others out. In response, the defendants said people should stay away from dangerous property; that safety is a responsibility that falls squarely on the individual. Next, in a rhetorical ploy, defense lawyers asked jurors if any of them would be willing to stay at a hotel that offered Internet access in exchange for the right to scan all computers for security vulnerabilities. Not one member of the audience raised a hand.

Around and around the two sides went, attacking each other like packs of wolves. The interchange got so heated at times that people almost forgot it was fake. Someday soon, however, this scenario could be real. As security threats such as DDoS attacks, identity theft and phishing continue to plague the Internet, ISPs find themselves under increasing pressure from business and consumers to eradicate risks before they get to the end users. Because ISPs control the pipes through which information is delivered, many customers, including CIOs, insist that service providers must play a more active role in securing the traffic that they deliver.

"Right now, all ISPs provide is entry to the Internet, period," says Stephen Warren, CIO of the Federal Trade Commission. "Believe me, it’s in their best interests to get all the crap off their lines."

As Warren implies, the time for action is now. If water utilities can be required by state and local governments to deliver water that is clean and acceptable to drink, why can’t ISPs be required to deliver data that is safe and threat-free? Such requirements would hold ISPs accountable for cleaning up their networks and force them to monitor traffic as it passes through their pipes for maliciousness of all kinds. Regulating ISPs in this way also would relieve at least some of the security burden from CIOs, freeing up more time, money and resources for other areas.

 

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