Telstra BigPond to 'suppress' malware

Telstra will implement malware suppression technology for its BigPond broadband network from October, the telco revealed today.

The suppression technology is designed to stop malware-infected devices from being able to communicate with a command and control server.

It polls the Domain Name Server (DNS) requests received by Telstra and blocks any that are trying to make a connection to such control servers.

Telstra said in a blog post that while the system observed DNS queries, it did not look at internet traffic, search history, browsing data or other data types that might cause privacy concerns.

Over 30 Australian ISPs already participate in a voluntary industry code created by the Internet Industry Association to isolate malware-infected devices from the internet.

The icode originally applied only to computers but was extended to internet subscribers connecting via mobile devices this year. It does not require ISPs to fix infected devices; they just need to alert the end user about a possible infection.

The Australian Internet Security Initiative, operated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, also sends 130 ISPs and network operators daily reports on malware-infected IP addresses, which they are asked to remediate.