High-tech crime investigators tackle BigPond assault

The Telstra-owned ISP has been temporarily disconnecting compromised computers from its network to stem a tide of bogus DNS requests swamping its servers and delaying customer e-mail and Web site requests. A spokesperson confirmed in a statement today BigPond was "continuing to identify and remove Trojan-affected PCs from its network," but declined to say how many were being disconnected.

According to the statement, the malware problem was not restricted to BigPond's network and the provider hoped to implement an 'engineering solution' that would improve its service.

"BigPond is just one of a number of ISPs worldwide being affected by this issue... This week we are implementing an engineering solution that we believe will significantly reduce the impact of the issue. This matter has been referred to the [AHTCC] as part of our efforts to identify the perpetrator(s)," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson declined to comment on what the engineering solution was, citing an unwillingness to give people with malicious intentions information they could use to subvert Telstra's systems.

He said the carrier had provided additional information to the AHTCC today on the matter, but declined to disclose any further details.

He also declined to name other ISPs being affected, but acknowledged some had contacted Telstra directly over the matter.

BigPond said it wanted to reassure its customers it had been giving "top priority to resolving the inconvenience some of them have been experiencing as a result [of the attacks]".