BT has launched an automated system to identify professional spammers and 'botnet'-infected customers on the BT broadband network.

Professional spammers will face account termination, and unwitting spammers and virus transmitters will receive help cleansing their computers of the programs that turn their PCs into "zombies." Although there remain questions over how much BT customers will benefit when they face effective disconnection and charges for technical assistance. BT has also not made it clear if it will help customers prevent their computer from becoming re-infected.

The system uses Content Forensics from StreamShield Networks and, using an in-band Content Security Gateway scanner, scans millions of SMTP e-mails a day. It then provides BT with detailed reports on the location and size of spam-related problems originating from BT's network.

The system shows the breakdown of normal and spam e-mail traffic on the network and lists the top spammers in real-time. It can report on each subscriber's email activity by time of day and show how much bandwidth is wasted by unwanted or harmful traffic. StreamShield Networks claims it can identify zombie PCs with a near-100% confidence level.

BT states that 80% of internet emails, that's about 6.5 billion a day, are spam. These unwanted emails are generated by professional spammers, and by 'botnets' -- networks of rogue software-infected PCs which send out masses of spam unbeknownst to their owners. These compromised machines can also be used in turn to attack other PCs and websites. According to Symantec, 22% of zombie PCs are in the UK. Ironport research claims that 80% of Spam is sent by zombie PCs.   

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