Cable giant Virgin Media UK has launched the Malware Defence Campaign that, among other things, will write warning letters to broadband internet access customers whom it believes could have had their computers infected by malicious software (malware - viruses, spyware and trojans etc.).

Research conducted through Virgin Media's Digital Home Support service, which is based upon software and live tech support that helps to identify and fix problems on customers computers, found that nearly a quarter of those who asked for help had computer or internet speed issues caused by malware infections.

Malware infections can slow down computers but can also compromise a surfer’s online security. Infected computers are often used to send spam email without the owner’s knowledge. They can also steal personal data and log keystrokes, such as passwords. A machine infected by malware can also be used for numerous other nefarious activities including online crime (e.g. fraud).

To help tackle this problem Virgin Media has announced that its Malware Defence Campaign will be working with a number of independent not-for-profit organisations (e.g. The Shadowserver Foundation) that constantly monitor the spread of malware around the internet.

These groups will then alert Virgin Media when one of their customers is identified as having been infected. The ISP will then follow this up by writting letters to the related customers, educating them about how they can best cleanup their computers.


However this is only the beginning. Virgin Media has said that it will be looking at a number of other ways to help its customers "avoid or resolve malware attacks", though it has not said what those will be.

No doubt some customers will be hoping that Virgin Media doesn't follow TalkTalk into offering a controversial system that tracks, without consent, the websites (URL's) visited by all of its customers (here).