*I'm not saying they're a crooked ISP. I'm just saying it's awesome
to see feds fall like a ton of bricks on an entire Internet service provider.
Via SANS.
–Judge Grants FTC Request for Temporary Restraining Order to
Shut Down ISP
(June 4, 2009)
A federal judge has issued a restraining order that shut down an
Internet service provider (ISP) suspected of hosting spammers and other
cyber criminals. Pricewert, also known as Triple Fiber Network
(3FN.net), APS Telecom and APX Telecom, allegedly solicited the business
of spammers, malware distributors, pornographers and others; its
upstream providers and data centers have cut off the ISP's servers from
the Internet. The injunction was issued as a result of a complaint
brought by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The action is
significant because it "is the first time the FTC has used its
Congressional mandate to protect US consumers to sever a service
provider suspected of illegal activity." The order also freezes the
company's assets; a hearing is scheduled for June 15.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9133966
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/06/ftc_sues_shuts_down_n_calif_we.html?hpid=sec-tech
https://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/06/feds-shutter-black-hat-isp/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/04/3fn_shut_down/
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/cybercrime/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217701956
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0923148/0906043fncmpt.pdf
https://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2009/06/judgeorder.pdf
[Editor's Note (Northcutt): Really nice use of FTC power to stop
deceptive business practice. From what I have been reading the bad guys
are relocating fast. We should see a reduction in SPAM for a short
period of time (week?), but if this serves as deterrence, at least in
the USA for ISPs that know they have bad eggs, it might do some real
good. You can see their former website in Google's cache or the Internet
Archive: http://web.archive.org/web/20080210154708/http://www.3fn.net/ ]
