Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                      J. Livingood
Request for Comments: 6561                                       N. Mody
Category: Informational                                     M. O'Reirdan
ISSN: 2070-1721                                                  Comcast
                                                             March 2012


     Recommendations for the Remediation of Bots in ISP Networks

Abstract

  This document contains recommendations on how Internet Service
  Providers can use various remediation techniques to manage the
  effects of malicious bot infestations on computers used by their
  subscribers.  Internet users with infected computers are exposed to
  risks such as loss of personal data and increased susceptibility to
  online fraud.  Such computers can also become inadvertent
  participants in or components of an online crime network, spam
  network, and/or phishing network as well as be used as a part of a
  distributed denial-of-service attack.  Mitigating the effects of and
  remediating the installations of malicious bots will make it more
  difficult for botnets to operate and could reduce the level of online
  crime on the Internet in general and/or on a particular Internet
  Service Provider's network.

Status of This Memo

  This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
  published for informational purposes.

  This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
  (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
  received public review and has been approved for publication by the
  Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not all documents
  approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet
  Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.

  Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
  and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
  http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6561.

Copyright Notice

  Copyright (c) 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
  document authors.  All rights reserved.






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  This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
  Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
  (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
  publication of this document.  Please review these documents
  carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
  to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
  include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
  the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
  described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction ....................................................3
     1.1. Key Terminology ............................................3
          1.1.1. Malicious Bots, or Bots .............................3
          1.1.2. Bot Networks, or Botnets ............................4
          1.1.3. Host ................................................5
          1.1.4. Malware .............................................5
          1.1.5. Fast Flux ...........................................5
  2. Problem Statement ...............................................6
  3. Important Notice of Limitations and Scope .......................7
  4. Detection of Bots ...............................................8
  5. Notification to Internet Users .................................12
     5.1. Email Notification ........................................13
     5.2. Telephone Call Notification ...............................13
     5.3. Postal Mail Notification ..................................14
     5.4. Walled Garden Notification ................................14
     5.5. Instant Message Notification ..............................16
     5.6. Short Message Service (SMS) Notification ..................16
     5.7. Web Browser Notification ..................................17
     5.8. Considerations for Notification to Public Network
          Locations .................................................18
     5.9. Considerations for Notification to Network
          Locations Using a Shared IP Address .......................18
     5.10. Notification and End User Expertise ......................19
  6. Remediation of Hosts Infected with a Bot .......................19
     6.1. Guided Remediation Process ................................21
     6.2. Professionally Assisted Remediation Process ...............22
  7. Failure or Refusal to Remediate ................................23
  8. Sharing of Data from the User to the ISP .......................23
  9. Security Considerations ........................................23
  10. Privacy Considerations ........................................24
  11. Acknowledgements ..............................................24
  12. Informative References ........................................26
  Appendix A.  Examples of Third-Party Malware Lists ................28






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1.  Introduction

  This document contains recommendations on how Internet Service
  Providers can use various remediation techniques to manage the
  effects of malicious bot infestations on computers used by their
  subscribers.  Internet users with infected computers are exposed to
  risks such as loss of personal data and increased susceptibility to
  online fraud.  Such computers can also become inadvertent
  participants in or components of an online crime network, spam
  network, and/or phishing network as well as be used as a part of a
  distributed denial-of-service attack.  Mitigating the effects of and
  remediating the installations of malicious bots will make it more
  difficult for botnets to operate and could reduce the level of online
  crime on the Internet in general and/or on a particular Internet
  Service Provider's network.

1.1.  Key Terminology

  This section defines the key terms used in this document.

1.1.1.  Malicious Bots, or Bots

  A malicious or potentially malicious bot (derived from the word
  "robot", hereafter simply referred to as a "bot") refers to a program
  that is installed on a system in order to enable that system to
  automatically (or semi-automatically) perform a task or set of tasks
  typically under the command and control of a remote administrator, or
  "bot master".  Bots are also known as "zombies".  Such bots may have
  been installed surreptitiously, without the user's full understanding
  of what the bot will do once installed, unknowingly as part of
  another software installation, under false pretenses, and/or in a
  variety of other possible ways.

  It is important to note that there are "good" bots.  Such good bots
  are often found interacting with a computing resource in environments
  such as gaming and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) [RFC1459], where a
  continual, interactive presence can be a requirement for
  participating in the games.  Since such good bots are performing
  useful, lawful, and non-disruptive functions, there is no reason for
  a provider to monitor for their presence and/or alert users to their
  presence.

  While there may be good, or harmless bots, for the purposes of this
  document, all mention of bots shall assume that the bots involved are
  malicious or potentially malicious in nature.  Such malicious bots
  shall generally be assumed to have been deployed without the
  permission or conscious understanding of a particular Internet user.
  Thus, without a user's knowledge, bots may transform the user's



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  computing device into a platform from which malicious activities can
  be conducted.  In addition, included explicitly in this category are
  potentially malicious bots, which may initially appear neutral but
  may simply be waiting for remote instructions to transform and/or
  otherwise begin engaging in malicious behavior.  In general,
  installation of a malicious bot without user knowledge and consent is
  considered in most regions to be unlawful, and the activities of
  malicious bots typically involve unlawful or other maliciously
  disruptive activities.

1.1.2.  Bot Networks, or Botnets

  A "bot network", or "botnet", is defined as a concerted network of
  bots capable of acting on instructions generated remotely.  The
  malicious activities are either focused on the information on the
  local machine or acting to provide services for remote machines.
  Bots are highly customizable so they can be programmed to do many
  things.  The major malicious activities include but are not limited
  to identity theft, spam, spim (spam over Instant Messaging (IM)),
  spit (spam over Internet telephony), email address harvesting,
  distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, key-logging, fraudulent
  DNS pharming (redirection), hosting proxy services, fast flux (see
  Section 1.1.5) hosting, hosting of illegal content, use in man-in-
  the-middle attacks, and click fraud.

  Infection vectors (infection pathways) include un-patched operating
  systems, software vulnerabilities (which include so-called zero-day
  vulnerabilities where no patch yet exists), weak/non-existent
  passwords, malicious web sites, un-patched browsers, malware,
  vulnerable helper applications, inherently insecure protocols,
  protocols implemented without security features switched on, and
  social engineering techniques to gain access to the user's computer.
  The detection and destruction of bots is an ongoing issue and also a
  constant battle between the Internet security community and network
  security engineers on the one hand and bot developers on the other.

  Initially, some bots used IRC to communicate but were easy to shut
  down if the command and control server was identified and
  deactivated.  Newer command and control methods have evolved, such
  that those currently employed by bot masters make them much more
  resistant to deactivation.  With the introduction of peer-to-peer
  (P2P) architectures and associated protocols, the use of HTTP and
  other resilient communication protocols, and the widespread adoption
  of encryption, bots are considerably more difficult to identify and
  isolate from typical network usage.  As a result, increased reliance
  is being placed on anomaly detection and behavioral analysis, both
  locally and remotely, to identify bots.




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1.1.3.  Host

  As used in the context of this document, the host or computer of an
  end user is intended to refer to a computing device that connects to
  the Internet.  This encompasses devices used by Internet users such
  as personal computers (including laptops, desktops, and netbooks),
  mobile phones, smart phones, home gateway devices, and other end user
  computing devices that are connected or can connect to the public
  Internet and/or private IP networks.

  Increasingly, other household systems and devices contain embedded
  hosts that are connected to or can connect to the public Internet
  and/or private IP networks.  However, these devices may not be under
  interactive control of the Internet user, such as may be the case
  with various smart home and smart grid devices.

1.1.4.  Malware

  Malware is short for "malicious software".  In this case, malicious
  bots are considered a subset of malware.  Other forms of malware
  could include viruses and other similar types of software.  Internet
  users can sometimes cause their hosts to be infected with malware,
  which may include a bot or cause a bot to install itself, via
  inadvertently accessing a specific web site, downloading a file, or
  other activities.

  In other cases, Internet-connected hosts may become infected with
  malware through externally initiated malicious activities such as the
  exploitation of vulnerabilities or the brute force guessing of access
  credentials.

1.1.5.  Fast Flux

  Domain Name System (DNS) fast fluxing occurs when a domain is bound
  in DNS using A records to multiple IP addresses, each of which has a
  very short Time-to-Live (TTL) value associated with it.  This means
  that the domain resolves to varying IP addresses over a short period
  of time.

  DNS fast flux is typically used in conjunction with proxies that are
  normally run on compromised user hosts.  These proxies route the web
  requests to the real host, which serves the data being sought.  The
  effect of this is to make the detection of the real host much more
  difficult and to ensure that the backend or hidden site remains up
  for as long as possible.






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2.  Problem Statement

  Hosts used by Internet users, which in this case are customers of an
  Internet Service Provider (ISP), can be infected with malware that
  may contain and/or install one or more bots on a host.  They can
  present a major problem for an ISP for a number of reasons (not to
  mention, of course, the problems created for users).  First, these
  bots can be used to send spam, in some cases very large volumes of
  spam [Spamalytics].  This spam can result in extra cost for the ISPs
  in terms of wasted network, server, and/or personnel resources, among
  many other potential costs and side effects.  Such spam can also
  negatively affect the reputation of the ISP, their customers, and the
  email reputation of the IP address space used by the ISP (often
  referred to simply as "IP reputation").  A further potential
  complication is that IP space compromised by bad reputation may
  continue to carry this bad reputation even when used for entirely
  innocent purposes following reassignment of that IP space.

  In addition, these bots can act as platforms for directing,
  participating in, or otherwise conducting attacks on critical
  Internet infrastructure [Threat-Report].  Bots are frequently used as
  part of coordinated DDoS attacks for criminal, political, or other
  motivations [Gh0st][Dragon][DDoS].  For example, bots have been used
  to attack Internet resources and infrastructure ranging from web
  sites to email servers and DNS servers, as well as the critical
  Internet infrastructure of entire countries [Estonia][Combat-Zone].
  Motivations for such coordinated DDoS attacks can range from criminal
  extortion attempts through to online protesting and nationalistic
  fervor [Whiz-Kid].  DDoS attacks may also be motivated by simple
  personal vendettas or by persons simply seeking a cheap thrill at the
  expense of others.

  There is good evidence to suggest that bots are being used in the
  corporate environment for purposes of corporate espionage including
  the exfiltration of corporate financial data and intellectual
  property.  This also extends to the possibility of bots being used
  for state-sponsored purposes such as espionage.

  While any computing device can be infected with bots, the majority of
  bot infections affect the personal computers used by Internet end
  users.  As a result of the role of ISPs in providing IP connectivity,
  among many other services, to Internet users, these ISPs are in a
  unique position to be able to attempt to detect and observe botnets
  operating in their networks.  Furthermore, ISPs may also be in a
  unique position to be able to notify their customers of actual,
  potential, or likely infection by bots or other infection.





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  From the perspective of end users, being notified that they may have
  an infected computer on their network is important information.  Once
  they know this, they can take steps to remove the bots, resolve any
  problems that may stem from the bot infection, and protect themselves
  against future threats.  It is important to notify users that they
  may be infected with a bot because bots can consume vast amounts of
  local computing and network resources, enable theft of personal
  information (including personal financial information), enable the
  host to be used for criminal activities (that may result in the
  Internet user being legally culpable), and destroy or leave the host
  in an unrecoverable state via "kill switch" bot technologies.

  As a result, the intent of this document is to provide guidance to
  ISPs and other organizations for the remediation of hosts infected
  with bots, so as to reduce the size of botnets and minimize the
  potential harm that bots can inflict upon Internet infrastructure in
  general as well as on individual Internet users.  Efforts by ISPs and
  other organizations can, over time, reduce the pool of hosts infected
  with bots on the Internet, which in turn could result in smaller
  botnets with less capability for disruption.

  The potential mitigation of bots is accomplished through a process of
  detection, notification to Internet users, and remediation of bot
  infections with a variety of tools, as described later in this
  document.

3.  Important Notice of Limitations and Scope

  The techniques described in this document in no way guarantee the
  remediation of all bots.  Bot removal is potentially a task requiring
  specialized knowledge, skills, and tools; it may be beyond the
  ability of average users.  Attempts at bot removal may frequently be
  unsuccessful, or only partially successful, leaving the user's system
  in an unstable and unsatisfactory state or even in a state where it
  is still infected.  Attempts at bot removal can result in side
  effects ranging from a loss of data to partial or complete loss of
  system usability.

  In general, the only way a user can be sure they have removed some of
  today's increasingly sophisticated malware is by "nuking-and-paving"
  the system: reformatting the drive, reinstalling the operating system
  and applications (including all patches) from scratch, and then
  restoring user files from a known clean backup.  However, the
  introduction of persistent memory-based malware may mean that, in
  some cases, this may not be enough and may prove to be more than any
  end user can be reasonably expected to resolve [BIOS].  Experienced
  users would have to re-flash or re-image persistent memory sections
  or components of their hosts in order to remove persistent memory-



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  based malware.  However, in some cases, not even nuking-and-paving
  the system will solve the problem, which calls for hard drive
  replacement and/or complete replacement of the host.

  Devices with embedded operating systems, such as video gaming
  consoles and smart home appliances, will most likely be beyond a
  user's capability to remediate by themselves and could therefore
  require the aid of vendor-specific advice, updates, and tools.
  However, in some cases, such devices will have a function or switch
  to enable the user to reset that device to a factory default
  configuration, which may sometimes enable the user to remediate the
  infection.  Care should be taken when imparting remediation advice to
  Internet users given the increasingly wide array of computing devices
  that can be, or could be, infected by bots in the future.

  This document is not intended to address the issues relating to the
  prevention of bots on an end user device.  This is out of the scope
  of this document.

4.  Detection of Bots

  An ISP must first identify that an Internet user is infected or
  likely to have been infected with a bot (a user is assumed to be
  their customer or otherwise connected to the ISP's network).  The ISP
  should attempt to detect the presence of bots using methods,
  processes, and tools that maintain the privacy of the personally
  identifiable information (PII) of their customers.  The ISP should
  not block legitimate traffic in the course of bot detection and
  should instead employ detection methods, tools, and processes that
  seek to be non-disruptive and transparent to Internet users and end
  user applications.

  Detection methods, tools, and processes may include analysis of
  specific network and/or application traffic flows (such as traffic to
  an email server), analysis of aggregate network and/or application
  traffic data, data feeds received from other ISPs and organizations
  (such as lists of the ISP's IP addresses that have been reported to
  have sent spam), feedback from the ISP's customers or other Internet
  users, as well as a wide variety of other possibilities.  In
  practice, it has proven effective to confirm a bot infection through
  the use of a combination of multiple bot detection data points.  This
  can help to corroborate information of varying dependability or
  consistency, as well as to avoid or minimize the possibility of false
  positive identification of hosts.  Detection should also, where
  possible and feasible, attempt to classify the specific bot infection
  type in order to confirm that it is malicious in nature, estimate the
  variety and severity of threats it may pose (such as spam bot, key-
  logging bot, file distribution bot, etc.), and determine potential



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  methods for eventual remediation.  However, given the dynamic nature
  of botnet management and the criminal incentives to seek quick
  financial rewards, botnets frequently update or change their core
  capabilities.  As a consequence, botnets that are initially detected
  and classified by the ISP as made up of one particular type of bot
  need to be continuously monitored and tracked in order to correctly
  identify the threat the botnet poses at any particular point in time.

  Detection is also time sensitive.  If complex analysis is required
  and multiple confirmations are needed to verify a bot is indeed
  present, then it is possible that the bot may cause some damage (to
  either the infected host or a remotely targeted system) before it can
  be stopped.  This means that an ISP needs to balance the desire or
  need to definitively classify and/or confirm the presence of a bot,
  which may take an extended period of time, with the ability to
  predict the likelihood of a bot in a very short period of time.  Such
  determinations must have a relatively low false positive rate in
  order to maintain the trust of users.  This "definitive-versus-
  likely" challenge is difficult and, when in doubt, ISPs should err on
  the side of caution by communicating that a bot infection has taken
  place.  This also means that Internet users may benefit from the
  installation of client-based security software on their host.  This
  can enable rapid heuristically based detection of bot activity, such
  as the detection of a bot as it starts to communicate with other
  botnets and execute commands.  Any bot detection system should also
  be capable of adapting, either via manual intervention or
  automatically, in order to cope with a rapidly evolving threat.

  As noted above, detection methods, tools, and processes should ensure
  that privacy of customers' personally identifiable information (PII)
  is maintained.  This protection afforded to PII should also extend to
  third parties processing data on behalf of ISPs.  While bot detection
  methods, tools, and processes are similar to spam and virus defenses
  deployed by the ISP for the benefit of their customers (and may be
  directly related to those defenses), attempts to detect bots should
  take into account the need of an ISP to take care to ensure any PII
  collected or incidentally detected is properly protected.  This is
  important because just as spam defenses may involve scanning the
  content of email messages, which may contain PII, then so too may bot
  defenses similarly come into incidental contact with PII.  The
  definition of PII varies from one jurisdiction to the next so proper
  care should be taken to ensure that any actions taken comply with
  legislation and good practice in the jurisdiction in which the PII is
  gathered.  Finally, depending upon the geographic region within which
  an ISP operates, certain methods relating to bot detection may need
  to be included in relevant terms of service documents or other
  documents that are available to the customers of a particular ISP.




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  There are several bot detection methods, tools, and processes that an
  ISP may choose to utilize, as noted in the list below.  It is
  important to note that the technical solutions available are
  relatively immature and are likely to change over time, evolving
  rapidly in the coming years.  While these items are described in
  relation to ISPs, they may also be applicable to organizations
  operating other networks, such as campus networks and enterprise
  networks.

  a.  Where it is not legally proscribed and an accepted industry
      practice in a particular market region, an ISP may in some manner
      "scan" its IP space in order to detect un-patched or otherwise
      vulnerable hosts or to detect the signs of infection.  This may
      provide the ISP with the opportunity to easily identify Internet
      users who appear already to be infected or are at great risk of
      being infected with a bot.  ISPs should note that some types of
      port scanning may leave network services in a hung state or
      render them unusable due to common frailties and that many modern
      firewall and host-based intrusion detection implementations may
      alert the Internet user to the scan.  As a result, the scan may
      be interpreted as a malicious attack against the host.
      Vulnerability scanning has a higher probability of leaving
      accessible network services and applications in a damaged state
      and will often result in a higher probability of detection by the
      Internet user and subsequent interpretation as a targeted attack.
      Depending upon the vulnerability for which an ISP may be
      scanning, some automated methods of vulnerability checking may
      result in data being altered or created afresh on the Internet
      user's host, which can be a problem in many legal environments.
      It should also be noted that due to the prevalence of Network
      Address Translation devices, Port Address Translation devices,
      and/or firewall devices in user networks, network-based
      vulnerability scanning may be of limited value.  Thus, while we
      note that this is one technique that may be utilized, it is
      unlikely to be particularly effective and has problematic side
      effects, which leads the authors to recommend against the use of
      this particular method.

  b.  An ISP may also communicate and share selected data, via feedback
      loops or other mechanisms, with various third parties.  Feedback
      loops are consistently formatted feeds of real-time (or nearly
      real-time) abuse reports offered by threat data clearinghouses,
      security alert organizations, other ISPs, and other
      organizations.  The formats for feedback loops include those
      defined in both the Abuse Reporting Format (ARF) [RFC5965] and
      the Incident Object Description Exchange Format (IODEF)
      [RFC5070].  The data may include, but is not limited to, IP
      addresses of hosts that appear to be either definitely or



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      probably infected, IP addresses, domain names or fully qualified
      domain names (FQDNs) known to host malware and/or be involved in
      the command and control of botnets, recently tested or discovered
      techniques for detecting or remediating bot infections, new
      threat vectors, and other relevant information.  A few good
      examples of data sharing are noted in Appendix A.

  c.  An ISP may use Netflow [RFC3954] or other similar passive network
      monitoring to identify network anomalies that may be indicative
      of botnet attacks or bot communications.  For example, an ISP may
      be able to identify compromised hosts by identifying traffic
      destined to IP addresses associated with the command and control
      of botnets or destined to the combination of an IP address and
      control port associated with a command and control network
      (sometimes command and control traffic comes from a host that has
      legitimate traffic).  In addition, bots may be identified when a
      remote host is under a DDoS attack, because hosts participating
      in the attack will likely be infected by a bot.  This can often
      be observed at network borders although ISPs should beware of
      source IP address spoofing techniques that may be employed to
      avoid or confuse detection.

  d.  An ISP may use DNS-based techniques to perform detection.  For
      example, a given classified bot may be known to query a specific
      list of domain names at specific times or on specific dates (in
      the example of the so-called "Conficker" bot (see [Conficker]),
      often by matching DNS queries to a well-known list of domains
      associated with malware.  In many cases, such lists are
      distributed by or shared using third parties, such as threat data
      clearinghouses.

  e.  Because hosts infected by bots are frequently used to send spam
      or participate in DDoS attacks, the ISP servicing those hosts
      will normally receive complaints about the malicious network
      traffic.  Those complaints may be sent to role accounts specified
      in RFC 2142 [RFC2142], such as abuse@, or to other relevant
      addresses such as to abuse or security addresses specified by the
      site as part of its WHOIS (or other) contact data.

  f.  ISPs may also discover likely bot-infected hosts located on other
      networks.  Thus, when legally permissible in a particular market
      region, it may be worthwhile for ISPs to share information
      relating to those compromised hosts with the relevant remote
      network operator, security researchers, and blocklist operators.







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  g.  ISPs may operate or subscribe to services that provide
      "sinkholing" or "honeynet" capabilities.  This may enable the ISP
      to obtain near-real-time lists of bot-infected hosts as they
      attempt to join a larger botnet or propagate to other hosts on a
      network.

  h.  ISP industry associations should examine the possibility of
      collating statistics from ISP members in order to provide good
      statistics about bot infections based on real ISP data.

  i.  An Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can be a useful tool to
      actually help identify the malware.  An IDS tool such as Snort
      (open source IDS platform; see [Snort]) can be placed in a walled
      garden and used to analyze end user traffic to confirm malware
      type.  This will help with remediation of the infected device.

5.  Notification to Internet Users

  Once an ISP has detected a bot, or the strong likelihood of a bot,
  steps should be undertaken to inform the Internet user that they may
  have a bot-related problem.  An ISP should decide the most
  appropriate method or methods for providing notification to one or
  more of their customers or Internet users, depending upon a range of
  factors including the technical capabilities of the ISP, the
  technical attributes of its network, financial considerations,
  available server resources, available organizational resources, the
  number of likely infected hosts detected at any given time, and the
  severity of any possible threats.  Such notification methods may
  include one or more of the methods described in the following
  subsections, as well as other possible methods not described below.

  It is important to note that none of these methods are guaranteed to
  be one hundred percent successful and that each has its own set of
  limitations.  In addition, in some cases, an ISP may determine that a
  combination of two or more methods is most appropriate and effective
  and reduces the chance that malware may block a notification.  As
  such, the authors recommend the use of multiple notification methods.
  Finally, notification is also considered time sensitive; if the user
  does not receive or view the notification in a timely fashion, then a
  particular bot could launch an attack, exploit the user, or cause
  other harm.  If possible, an ISP should establish a preferred means
  of communication when the subscriber first signs up for service.  As
  a part of the notification process, ISPs should maintain a record of
  the allocation of IP addresses to subscribers for a period long
  enough to allow any commonly used bot detection technology to be able
  to accurately link an infected IP address to a subscriber.  This





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  record should only be maintained for a period of time that is
  necessary to support bot detection, but no longer, in order to
  protect the privacy of the individual subscriber.

  One important factor to bear in mind is that notification to end
  users needs to be resistant to potential spoofing.  This should be
  done to protect, as reasonably as possible, against the potential of
  legitimate notifications being spoofed and/or used by parties with
  intent to perform additional malicious attacks against victims of
  malware or even to deliver additional malware.

  It should be possible for the end user to indicate the preferred
  means of notification on an opt-in basis for that notification
  method.  It is recommended that the end user should not be allowed to
  opt out of notification entirely.

  When users are notified, an ISP should endeavor to give as much
  information as possible to the end user regarding which bot detection
  methods are employed at the ISP, consonant with not providing
  information to those creating or deploying the bots so that they
  would be able to avoid detection.

5.1.  Email Notification

  This is a common form of notification used by ISPs.  One drawback of
  using email is that it is not guaranteed to be viewed within a
  reasonable time frame, if at all.  The user may be using a different
  primary email address than the one they provided to the ISP.  In
  addition, some ISPs do not provide an email account at all as part of
  a bundle of Internet services and/or do not have a need for or method
  by which to request or retain the primary email addresses of Internet
  users of their networks.  Another possibility is that the user, their
  email client, and/or their email servers could determine or classify
  such a notification as spam, which could delete the message or
  otherwise file it in an email folder that the user may not check on a
  regular and/or timely basis.  Bot masters have also been known to
  impersonate the ISP or trusted sender and send fraudulent emails to
  the users.  This technique of social engineering often leads to new
  bot infestations.  Finally, if the user's email credentials are
  compromised, then a hacker and/or a bot could simply access the
  user's email account and delete the email before it is read by the
  user.

5.2.  Telephone Call Notification

  A telephone call may be an effective means of communication in
  particularly high-risk situations.  However, telephone calls may not
  be feasible due to the cost of making a large number of calls, as



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  measured in either time, money, organizational resources, server
  resources, or some other means.  In addition, there is no guarantee
  that the user will answer their phone.  To the extent that the
  telephone number called by the ISP can be answered by the infected
  computing device, the bot on that host may be able to disconnect,
  divert, or otherwise interfere with an incoming call.  Users may also
  interpret such a telephone notification as a telemarketing call and
  therefore not welcome it or not accept the call at all.  Finally,
  even if a representative of the ISP is able to connect with and speak
  to a user, that user is very likely to lack the necessary technical
  expertise to understand or be able to effectively deal with the
  threat.

5.3.  Postal Mail Notification

  This form of notification is probably the least popular and effective
  means of communication, due to preparation time, delivery time, the
  cost of printing and paper, and the cost of postage.

5.4.  Walled Garden Notification

  Placing a user in a walled garden is another approach that ISPs may
  take to notify users.  A "walled garden" refers to an environment
  that controls the information and services that a subscriber is
  allowed to utilize and what network access permissions are granted.
  A walled garden implementation can range from strict to leaky.  In a
  strict walled garden environment, access to most Internet resources
  is typically limited by the ISP.  In contrast, a leaky walled garden
  environment permits access to all Internet resources, except those
  deemed malicious, and ensures access to those that can be used to
  notify users of infections.

  Walled gardens are effective because it is possible to notify the
  user and simultaneously block all communication between the bot and
  the command and control channel.  While in many cases the user is
  almost guaranteed to view the notification message and take any
  appropriate remediation actions, this approach can pose other
  challenges.  For example, it is not always the case that a user is
  actively utilizing a host that implements a web browser, has a web
  browser actively running on it, or operates another application that
  uses ports that are redirected to the walled garden.  In one example,
  a user could be playing a game online, via the use of a dedicated,
  Internet-connected game console.  In another example, the user may
  not be using a host with a web browser when they are placed in the
  walled garden and may instead be in the course of a telephone
  conversation or may be expecting to receive a call using a Voice over
  IP (VoIP) device of some type.  As a result, the ISP may feel the
  need to maintain a potentially lengthy white list of domains that are



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  not subject to the typical restrictions of a walled garden, which
  could well prove to be an onerous task from an operational
  perspective.

  For these reasons, the implementation of a leaky walled garden makes
  more sense, but a leaky walled garden has a different set of
  drawbacks.  The ISP has to assume that the user will eventually use a
  web browser to acknowledge the notification; otherwise, the user will
  remain in the walled garden and not know it.  If the intent of the
  leaky walled garden is solely to notify the user about the bot
  infection, then the leaky walled garden is not ideal because
  notification is time sensitive, and the user may not receive the
  notification until the user invokes a request for the targeted
  service and/or resource.  This means the bot can potentially do more
  damage.  Additionally, the ISP has to identify which services and/or
  resources to restrict for the purposes of notification.  This does
  not have to be resource specific and can be time based and/or policy
  based.  An example of how notification could be made on a timed basis
  could involve notification for all HTTP requests every 10 minutes, or
  show the notification for one in five HTTP requests.

  The ISP has several options to determine when to let the user out of
  the walled garden.  One approach may be to let the user determine
  when to exit.  This option is suggested when the primary purpose of
  the walled garden is to notify users and provide information on
  remediation only, particularly since notification is not a guarantee
  of successful remediation.  It could also be the case that, for
  whatever reason, the user makes the judgment that they cannot then
  take the time to remediate their host and that other online
  activities that they would like to resume are more important.  Exit
  from the walled garden may also involve a process to verify that it
  is indeed the user who is requesting exit from the walled garden and
  not the bot.

  Once the user acknowledges the notification, they may decide either
  to remediate and exit the walled garden or to exit the walled garden
  without remediating the issue.  Another approach may be to enforce a
  stricter policy and require the user to clean the host prior to
  permitting the user to exit the walled garden, though this may not be
  technically feasible depending upon the type of bot, obfuscation
  techniques employed by a bot, and/or a range of other factors.  Thus,
  the ISP may also need to support tools to scan the infected host (in
  the style of a virus scan, rather than a port scan) and determine
  whether it is still infected or rely on user judgment that the bot
  has been disabled or removed.  One challenge with this approach is
  that the user might have multiple hosts sharing a single IP address,
  such as via a common home gateway device that performs Network




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  Address Translation (NAT).  In such a case, the ISP may need to
  determine from user feedback, or other means, that all affected hosts
  have been remediated, which may or may not be technically feasible.

  Finally, when a walled garden is used, a list of well-known addresses
  for both operating system vendors and security vendors should be
  created and maintained in a white list that permits access to these
  sites.  This can be important for allowing access from the walled
  garden by end users in search of operating system and application
  patches.  It is recommended that walled gardens be seriously
  considered as a method of notification as they are easy to implement
  and proven to be effective as a means of getting end user attention.

5.5.  Instant Message Notification

  IM provides the ISP with a simple means to communicate with the user.
  There are several advantages to using IM that make it an attractive
  option.  If the ISP provides IM service and the user subscribes to
  it, then the user can be notified easily.  IM-based notification can
  be a cost-effective means to communicate with users automatically
  from an IM alert system or by a manual process, involving the ISP's
  support staff.  Ideally, the ISP should allow the user to register
  their IM identity in an ISP account management system and grant
  permission to be contacted via this means.  If the IM service
  provider supports off-line messaging, then the user can be notified
  regardless of whether they are currently logged into the IM system.

  There are several drawbacks with this communications method.  There
  is a high probability that a subscriber may interpret the
  communication to be spim and thus ignore it.  Also, not every user
  uses IM and/or the user may not provide their IM identity to the ISP
  so some alternative means have to be used.  Even in those cases where
  a user does have an IM address, they may not be signed onto that IM
  system when the notification is attempted.  There may be a privacy
  concern on the part of users when such an IM notification must be
  transmitted over a third-party network and/or IM service.  As such,
  should this method be used, the notification should be discreet and
  not include any PII in the notification itself.

5.6.  Short Message Service (SMS) Notification

  SMS allows the ISP to send a brief description of the problem to
  notify the user of the issue, typically to a mobile device such as a
  mobile phone or smart phone.  Ideally, the ISP should allow the user
  to register their mobile number and/or SMS address in an ISP account
  management system and grant permission to be contacted via this
  means.  The primary advantage of SMS is that users are familiar with




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  receiving text messages and are likely to read them.  However, users
  may not act on the notification immediately if they are not in front
  of their host at the time of the SMS notification.

  One disadvantage is that ISPs may have to follow up with an alternate
  means of notification if not all of the necessary information may be
  conveyed in one message, given constraints on the number of
  characters in an individual message (typically 140 characters).
  Another disadvantage with SMS is the cost associated with it.  The
  ISP has to either build its own SMS gateway to interface with the
  various wireless network service providers or use a third-party SMS
  clearinghouse (relay) to notify users.  In both cases, an ISP may
  incur fees related to SMS notifications, depending upon the method
  used to send the notifications.  An additional downside is that SMS
  messages sent to a user may result in a charge to the user by their
  wireless provider, depending upon the plan to which they subscribe
  and the country in which the user resides.  Another minor
  disadvantage is that it is possible to notify the wrong user if the
  intended user changes their mobile number but forgets to update it
  with the ISP.

  There are several other drawbacks with this communications method.
  There is a high probability that subscriber may interpret the
  communication to be spam and thus ignore it.  Also, not every user
  uses SMS, and/or the user may not provide their SMS address or mobile
  number to the ISP.  Even in those cases where a user does have an SMS
  address or mobile number, their device may not be powered on or
  otherwise available on a wireless network when the notification is
  attempted.  There may also be a privacy concern on the part of users
  when such an SMS notification must be transmitted over a third-party
  network and/or SMS clearinghouse.  As such, should this method be
  used, the notification should be discreet and not include any PII in
  the notification itself.

5.7.  Web Browser Notification

  Near-real-time notification to the user's web browser is another
  technique that may be utilized for notifying the user [RFC6108],
  though how such a system might operate is outside the scope of this
  document.  Such a notification could have a comparative advantage
  over a walled garden notification, in that it does not restrict
  traffic to a specified list of destinations in the same way that a
  walled garden would, by definition.  However, as with a walled garden
  notification, there is no guarantee that a user is making use of a
  web browser at any given time, though such a system could certainly
  provide a notification when such a browser is eventually used.
  Compared to a walled garden, a web browser notification is probably




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  preferred from the perspective of Internet users, as it does not have
  the risk of disrupting non-web sessions, such as online games, VoIP
  calls, etc. (as noted in Section 5.4).

  There are alternative methods of web browser notification offered
  commercially by a number of vendors.  Many of the techniques used are
  proprietary, and it is not within the scope of this document to
  describe how they are implemented.  These techniques have been
  successfully implemented at several ISPs.

  It should be noted that web notification is only intended to notify
  devices running a web browser.

5.8.  Considerations for Notification to Public Network Locations

  Delivering a notification to a location that provides a shared public
  network, such as a train station, public square, coffee shop, or
  similar location may be of low value since the users connecting to
  such networks are typically highly transient and generally not known
  to site or network administrators.  For example, a system may detect
  that a host on such a network has a bot, but by the time a
  notification is generated, that user has departed from the network
  and moved elsewhere.

5.9.  Considerations for Notification to Network Locations Using a
     Shared IP Address

  Delivering a notification to a location that accesses the Internet
  routed through one or more shared public IP addresses may be of low
  value since it may be quite difficult to differentiate between users
  when providing a notification.  For example, on a business network of
  500 users, all sharing one public IP address, it may be sub-optimal
  to provide a notification to all 500 users if you only need one
  specific user to be notified and take action.  As a result, such
  networks may find value in establishing a localized bot detection and
  notification system, just as they are likely to also establish other
  localized systems for security, file sharing, email, and so on.

  However, should an ISP implement some form of notification to such
  networks, it may be better to simply send notifications to a
  designated network administrator at the site.  In such a case, the
  local network administrator may like to receive additional
  information in such a notification, such as a date and timestamp, the
  source port of the infected system, and malicious sites and ports
  that may have been visited.






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5.10.  Notification and End User Expertise

  The ultimate effectiveness of any of the aforementioned forms of
  notification is heavily dependent upon both the expertise of the end
  user and the wording of any such notification.  For example, while a
  user may receive and acknowledge a notification, that user may lack
  the necessary technical expertise to understand or be able to deal
  effectively with the threat.  As a result, it is important that such
  notifications use clear and easily understood language, so that the
  majority of users (who are non-technical) may understand the
  notification.  In addition, a notification should provide easily
  understood guidance on how to remediate a threat as described in
  Section 6, potentially with one path for technical users to take and
  another for non-technical users.

6.  Remediation of Hosts Infected with a Bot

  This section covers the different options available to remediate a
  host, which means to remove, disable, or otherwise render a bot
  harmless.  Prior to this step, an ISP has detected the bot, notified
  the user that one of their hosts is infected with a bot, and now may
  provide some recommended means to clean the host.  The generally
  recommended approach is to provide the necessary tools and education
  to the user so that they may perform bot remediation themselves,
  particularly given the risks and difficulties inherent in attempting
  to remove a bot.

  For example, this may include the creation of a special web site with
  security-oriented content that is dedicated for this purpose.  This
  should be a well-publicized security web site to which a user with a
  bot infection can be directed to for remediation.  This security web
  site should clearly explain why the user was notified and may include
  an explanation of what bots are and the threats that they pose.
  There should be a clear explanation of the steps that the user should
  take in order to attempt to clean their host and information on how
  users can keep the host free of future infections.  The security web
  site should also have a guided process that takes non-technical users
  through the remediation process, on an easily understood, step-by-
  step basis.

  In terms of the text used to explain what bots are and the threats
  that they pose, something simple such as this may suffice:

     What is a bot?  A bot is a piece of software, generally installed
     on your machine without your knowledge, which either sends spam or
     tries to steal your personal information.  They can be very
     difficult to spot, though you may have noticed that your computer
     is running much more slowly than usual or you may notice regular



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     disk activity even when you are not doing anything.  Ignoring this
     problem is risky to you and your personal information.  Thus, bots
     need to be removed to protect your data and your personal
     information.

  Many bots are designed to work in a very stealthy manner, and as
  such, there may be a need to make sure that the Internet user
  understands the magnitude of the threat faced despite the stealthy
  nature of the bot.

  It is also important to note that it may not be immediately apparent
  to the Internet user precisely which devices have been infected with
  a particular bot.  This may be due to the user's home network
  configuration, which may encompass several hosts, where a home
  gateway that performs Network Address Translation (NAT) to share a
  single public IP address has been used.  Therefore, any of these
  devices can be infected with a bot.  The consequence of this for an
  ISP is that remediation advice may not ultimately be immediately
  actionable by the Internet user, as that user may need to perform
  additional investigation within their own home network.

  An added complication is that the user may have a bot infection on a
  device such as a video console, multimedia system, appliance, or
  other end user computing device that does not have a typical desktop
  computing interface.  As a result, diligence needs to be taken by the
  ISP where possible such that it can identify and communicate the
  specific nature of the device that has been infected with a bot and
  provide further appropriate remediation advice.  If the ISP cannot
  pin down the device or identify its type, then it should make it
  clear to the user that any initial advice given is generic and
  further advice can be given (or is available) once the type of
  infected device is known.

  There are a number of forums that exist online to provide security-
  related support to end users.  These forums are staffed by volunteers
  and often are focused around the use of a common tool set to help end
  users to remediate hosts infected with malware.  It may be
  advantageous to ISPs to foster a relationship with one or more
  forums, perhaps by offering free hosting or other forms of
  sponsorship.

  It is also important to keep in mind that not all users will be
  technically adept, as noted in Section 5.10.  As a result, it may be
  more effective to provide a range of suggestion options for
  remediation.  This may include, for example, a very detailed "do it
  yourself" approach for experts, a simpler guided process for the
  average user, and even assisted remediation as described in
  Section 6.2.



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6.1.  Guided Remediation Process

  Minimally, the Guided Remediation Process should include the
  following goals, with options and/or recommendations for achieving
  them:

  1.  Back up personal files.  For example:

         Before you start, make sure to back up all of your important
         data.  (You should do this on a regular basis anyway.)  You
         can back up your files manually or using a system backup
         software utility, which may be part of your Operating System
         (OS).  You can back up your files to a USB Thumb Drive (aka
         USB Key), a writable CD/DVD-ROM, an external hard drive, a
         network file server, or an Internet-based backup service.

      It may be advisable to suggest that the user backup is performed
      onto separate backup media or devices if they suspect bot
      infection.

  2.  Download OS patches and Anti-Virus (A/V) software updates.  For
      example, links could be provided to Microsoft Windows updates,
      Apple Mac OS updates, or other major operating systems that are
      relevant to users and their devices.

  3.  Configure the host to automatically install updates for the OS,
      A/V, and other common web browsers such as Microsoft Internet
      Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera, and Google
      Chrome.

  4.  Get professional assistance if they are unable to remove the bots
      themselves.  If purchasing professional assistance, then the user
      should be encouraged to predetermine how much they are willing to
      pay for that help.  For example, if the host that is being
      remediated is old and can easily be replaced with a new, faster,
      larger, and more reliable system for a certain cost, then it
      makes no sense to spend more than that cost to fix the old host.
      On the other hand, if the customer has a brand-new host, it might
      make perfect sense to spend the money to attempt to remediate it.

  5.  To continue, regardless of whether the user or a knowledgeable
      technical assistant is working on remediating the host, the first
      task should be to determine which of multiple potentially
      infected machines may be the one that needs attention (in the
      common case of multiple hosts in a home network).  Sometimes, as
      in cases where there is only a single directly attached host, or
      the user has been noticing problems with one of their hosts, this
      can be easy.  Other times, it may be more difficult, especially



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      if there are no clues as to which host is infected.  If the user
      is behind a home gateway/router, then the first task may be to
      ascertain which of the machines is infected.  In some cases, the
      user may have to check all machines to identify the infected one.

  6.  ISPs may also look at offering a CD/DVD with remediation
      processes and software in the event that a host is so badly
      infected as to be unable to communicate over the Internet.

  7.  User surveys to solicit feedback on whether the notification and
      remediation process is effective and what recommended changes
      could be made in order to improve the ease, understandability,
      and effectiveness the remediation process.

  8.  If the user is interested in reporting the host's bot infection
      to an applicable law enforcement authority, then the host
      effectively becomes a cyber "crime scene", and the infection
      should not be mitigated unless or until law enforcement has
      collected the necessary evidence.  For individuals in this
      situation, the ISP may wish to provide links to local, state,
      federal, or other relevant computer crime offices.  (Note: Some
      "minor" incidents, even if highly traumatic to the user, may not
      be sufficiently serious for law enforcement to commit some of
      their limited resources to an investigation.)  In addition,
      individual regions may have other, specialized computer crime
      organizations to which these incidents can be reported.  For
      example, in the United States, that organization is the Internet
      Crime Complaint Center, at http://www.ic3.gov.

  9.  Users may also be interested in links to security expert forums,
      where other users can assist them.

6.2.  Professionally Assisted Remediation Process

  It should be acknowledged that, based on the current state of
  remediation tools and the technical abilities of end users, that many
  users may be unable to remediate on their own.  As a result, it is
  recommended that users have the option for professional assistance.
  This may entail online or telephone assistance for remediation, as
  well as working face to face with a professional who has training and
  expertise in the removal of malware.  It should be made clear at the
  time of offering this service that this service is intended for those
  that do not have the skills or confidence to attempt remediation and
  is not intended as an up-sell by the ISP.







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7.  Failure or Refusal to Remediate

  ISP systems should track the bot infection history of hosts in order
  to detect when users consistently fail to remediate or refuse to take
  any steps to remediate.  In such cases, ISPs may need to consider
  taking additional steps to protect their network, other users and
  hosts on that network, and other networks.  Such steps may include a
  progression of actions up to and including account termination.
  Refusal to remediate can be viewed as a business issue, and as such,
  no technical recommendation is possible.

8.  Sharing of Data from the User to the ISP

  As an additional consideration, it may be useful to create a process
  by which users could choose, at their option and with their express
  consent, to share data regarding their bot infections with their ISP
  and/or another authorized third party.  Such third parties may
  include governmental entities that aggregate threat data, such as the
  Internet Crime Complaint Center referred to earlier in this document,
  academic institutions, and/or security researchers.  While in many
  cases the information shared with the user's ISP or designated third
  parties will only be used for aggregated statistical analysis, it is
  also possible that certain research needs may be best met with more
  detailed data.  Thus, any such data sharing from a user to the ISP or
  authorized third party may contain some type of personally
  identifiable information, either by design or inadvertently.  As a
  result, any such data sharing should be enabled on an opt-in basis,
  where users review and approve of the data being shared and the
  parties with which it is to be shared, unless the ISP is already
  required to share such data in order to comply with local laws and
  applicable regulations.

9.  Security Considerations

  This document describes in detail the numerous security risks and
  concerns relating to botnets.  As such, it has been appropriate to
  include specific information about security in each section above.
  This document describes the security risks related to malicious bot
  infections themselves, such as enabling identity theft, theft of
  authentication credentials, and the use of a host to unwittingly
  participate in a DDoS attack, among many other risks.  Finally, the
  document also describes security risks that may relate to the
  particular methods of communicating a notification to Internet users.
  Bot networks and bot infections pose extremely serious security
  risks, so readers should review this document carefully.






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  In addition, regarding notifications as described in Section 5, care
  should be taken to assure users that notifications have been provided
  by a trustworthy site and/or party, so that the notification is more
  difficult for phishers and/or malicious parties using social
  engineering tactics to mimic.  Otherwise, care should be taken to
  ensure that the user has some level of trust that the notification is
  valid and/or that the user has some way to verify via some other
  mechanism or step that the notification is valid.

10.  Privacy Considerations

  This document describes at a high level the activities to which ISPs
  should be sensitive, i.e., where the collection or communication of
  PII may be possible.  In addition, when performing notifications to
  end users (see Section 5), those notifications should not include
  PII.

  As noted in Section 8, any sharing of data from the user to the ISP
  and/or authorized third parties should be done on an opt-in basis.
  Additionally the ISP and or authorized third parties should clearly
  state what data will be shared and with whom the data will be shared.

  Lastly, as noted in other sections, there may be legal requirements
  in particular legal jurisdictions concerning how long any subscriber-
  related or other data is retained.  An ISP operating in such a
  jurisdiction should be aware of these requirements and should comply
  with them.

11.  Acknowledgements

  The authors wish to acknowledge the following individuals and groups
  for performing a detailed review of this document and/or providing
  comments and feedback that helped to improve and evolve this
  document:

  Mark Baugher

  Richard Bennett

  James Butler

  Vint Cerf

  Alissa Cooper

  Jonathan Curtis

  Jeff Chan



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RFC 6561           Remediation of Bots in ISP Networks        March 2012


  Roland Dobbins

  Dave Farber

  Stephen Farrell

  Eliot Gillum

  Joel Halpern

  Joel Jaeggli

  Scott Keoseyan

  Murray S. Kucherawy

  The Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG)

  Jose Nazario

  Gunter Ollmann

  David Reed

  Roger Safian

  Donald Smith

  Joe Stewart

  Forrest Swick

  Sean Turner

  Robb Topolski

  Maxim Weinstein

  Eric Ziegast












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12.  Informative References

  [BIOS]     Sacco, A. and A. Ortega, "Persistent BIOS Infection",
             March 2009, <http://www.coresecurity.com/files/
             attachments/Persistent_BIOS_Infection_CanSecWest09.pdf>.

  [Combat-Zone]
             Alshech, E., "Cyberspace as a Combat Zone: The Phenomenon
             of Electronic Jihad", February 2007, <http://
             www.memrijttm.org/content/en/report.htm?report=1822>.

  [Conficker]
             Porras, P., Saidi, H., and V. Yegneswaran, "An Analysis of
             Conficker's Logic and Rendezvous Points", March 2009,
             <http://mtc.sri.com/Conficker/>.

  [DDoS]     Saafan, A., "Distributed Denial of Service Attacks:
             Explanation, Classification and Suggested Solutions",
             March 2009, <www.exploit-db.com/download_pdf/14738/>.

  [Dragon]   Nagaraja, S. and R. Anderson, "The snooping dragon:
             social-malware surveillance of the Tibetan movement",
             March 2009,
             <http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/techreports/UCAM-CL-TR-746.pdf>.

  [Estonia]  Evron, G., "Battling Botnets and Online Mobs: Estonia's
             Defense Efforts during the Internet War", 2008, <http://
             journal.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/9.1-Evron.pdf>.

  [Gh0st]    Vallentin, M., Whiteaker, J., and Y. Ben-David, "The Gh0st
             in the Shell: Network Security in the Himalayas",
             February 2010, <http://www.infowar-monitor.net/wp-content/
             uploads/2010/02/cs294-28-paper.pdf>.

  [RFC1459]  Oikarinen, J. and D. Reed, "Internet Relay Chat Protocol",
             RFC 1459, May 1993.

  [RFC2142]  Crocker, D., "MAILBOX NAMES FOR COMMON SERVICES, ROLES AND
             FUNCTIONS", RFC 2142, May 1997.

  [RFC3954]  Claise, B., "Cisco Systems NetFlow Services Export Version
             9", RFC 3954, October 2004.

  [RFC5070]  Danyliw, R., Meijer, J., and Y. Demchenko, "The Incident
             Object Description Exchange Format", RFC 5070,
             December 2007.





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RFC 6561           Remediation of Bots in ISP Networks        March 2012


  [RFC5965]  Shafranovich, Y., Levine, J., and M. Kucherawy, "An
             Extensible Format for Email Feedback Reports", RFC 5965,
             August 2010.

  [RFC6108]  Chung, C., Kasyanov, A., Livingood, J., Mody, N., and B.
             Van Lieu, "Comcast's Web Notification System Design",
             RFC 6108, February 2011.

  [Snort]    Roesch, M., "Snort Home Page", March 2009,
             <http://www.snort.org/>.

  [Spamalytics]
             Kanich, C., Kreibich, C., Levchenko, K., Enright, B.,
             Voelker, G., Paxson, V., and S. Savage, "Spamalytics: An
             Empirical Analysis of Spam Marketing Conversion",
             October 2008, <http://www.icir.org/christian/publications/
             2008-ccs-spamalytics.pdf>.

  [Threat-Report]
             Ahamad, M., Amster, D., Barret, M., Cross, T., Heron, G.,
             Jackson, D., King, J., Lee, W., Naraine, R., Ollman, G.,
             Ramsey, J., Schmidt, H., and P. Traynor, "Emerging Cyber
             Threats Report for 2009: Data, Mobility and Questions of
             Responsibility will Drive Cyber Threats in 2009 and
             Beyond", October 2008, <http://smartech.gatech.edu/
             bitstream/1853/26301/1/CyberThreatsReport2009.pdf>.

  [Whiz-Kid] Berinato, S., "Case Study: How a Bookmaker and a Whiz Kid
             Took On a DDOS-based Online Extortion Attack", May 2005,
             <http://www.csoonline.com/article/220336/
             How_a_Bookmaker_and_a_Whiz_Kid_Took_On_a_DDOS_based_Online
             _Extortion_Attack>.



















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Appendix A.  Examples of Third-Party Malware Lists

  As noted in Section 4, there are many potential third parties that
  may be willing to share lists of infected hosts.  This list is for
  example purposes only, is not intended to be either exclusive or
  exhaustive, and is subject to change over time.

  o  Arbor - Atlas, see http://atlas.arbor.net/

  o  Internet Systems Consortium - Secure Information Exchange (SIE),
     see https://sie.isc.org/

  o  Microsoft - Smart Network Data Services (SNDS), see
     https://postmaster.live.com/snds/

  o  SANS Institute / Internet Storm Center - DShield Distributed
     Intrusion Detection System, see http://www.dshield.org/about.html

  o  ShadowServer Foundation, see http://www.shadowserver.org/

  o  Spamhaus - Policy Block List (PBL), see
     http://www.spamhaus.org/pbl/

  o  Spamhaus - Exploits Block List (XBL), see
     http://www.spamhaus.org/xbl/

  o  Team Cymru - Community Services, see http://www.team-cymru.org/
























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Authors' Addresses

  Jason Livingood
  Comcast Cable Communications
  One Comcast Center
  1701 John F. Kennedy Boulevard
  Philadelphia, PA  19103
  USA

  EMail: [email protected]
  URI:   http://www.comcast.com


  Nirmal Mody
  Comcast Cable Communications
  One Comcast Center
  1701 John F. Kennedy Boulevard
  Philadelphia, PA  19103
  USA

  EMail: [email protected]
  URI:   http://www.comcast.com


  Mike O'Reirdan
  Comcast Cable Communications
  One Comcast Center
  1701 John F. Kennedy Boulevard
  Philadelphia, PA  19103
  USA

  EMail: [email protected]
  URI:   http://www.comcast.com


















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