The Australian government has launched a trial program to ferret out "zombie" computers that have been hijacked to send out spam or viruses.
Once located, the owners of the individual zombie computers will be notified and asked to either cleanse their machines or face ouster from the Internet.
The Communications and Media Authority is running the program with the cooperation of five Internet service providers and is offering clean-up tools on its Web site.
A manager at one ISP told The Sydney Morning Herald that the communications ministry would monitor the individual company's IP range for open ports; however, it would not be conducting full port scans.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
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