Amid cyberattacks, ISPs try to clean up the internet

Antivirus software is not what it used to be. The sneaky, sophisticated security threats your PC faces now have gone far beyond what traditional software can do. The future of protecting your PC will require a multi-pronged approach involving vigilant updates, bug bounties, and artificial intelligence.

If your computer’s been hacked, Dale Drew might actually know something about that.

Dale Drew, the chief security officer at a major internet backbone provider that’s routinely on the lookout for cyberattacks on the network level has led the company to linked more than 150 million IP addresses to malicious activity worldwide.

This means all of those IP addresses have computers behind them that are probably involved in distributed denial-of-service attacks, email spam, or breaches of company servers. Through this, hackers have managed to hijack those computers to “cause harm to the internet” without the owner’s knowledge.

According to PC World, The tracking capabilities of Level 3 highlight how ISPs can spot malicious patterns of activity over the internet, and even pinpoint the IP addresses that are being used for cybercrime.

However, despite this closure, taking down suspected hackers usually requires collective action from law enforcement and security researchers who have thoroughly investigated a threat and confirmed that it is real. Governments and ISPs have also become involved in creating websites and services telling users how to effectively clean up their PCs.

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