Goofproof wrote:The FBI are now running the servers that are now serving the affected computers.... So that would lead me to believe the FBI can see how many infected computers are running on their temporarily installed computers, and identify them, they could even inform the owners of the infected machines, if they wanted too. By running the the servers that are now serving the affected computers, they are just allowing the problem to exhist, by pulling the plug the problem stops and the effected people, can deal with it. By allowing time to pass, the restore function will be useless, not that it isn't always... Just my thoughts, anything they mess up, I'll fix, reformat is my friend... Jim
One of the links has numbers that show how many computers are going through their server. I think it's something less than 100,000 in the US, and around 20,000 each in several other countries. I'm not sure they can specifically identify individual users because of the network IP translations that take place at most ISPs. Unless you have a dedicated Internet connection your IP address will change every time you disconnect and reconnect your modem to your provider. I say you're right about pulling the plug and letting affected people deal with it. In fact they wanted to do it already but I think Congress told them to hold off. I have wondered though why they don't put up a splash screen that would inform the affected users their machine needs cleaning, unless they're afraid of the fall out that would result from the hysteria of, "Why does the Government know I'm surfing the Internet?"
I kind of think that in this case whatever the FBI does, it's in a lose-lose situation. The reaction is probably going to be, "Why are you watching me surf?" or "Why didn't you fix the problem?" In either case the FBI comes out looking like the bad guy. And keep in mind, they aren't dealing with just Americans. This problem, and the temporary solution, and it's shut down, will affect many more people in other countries than it does here.