Ask HN: Dismantling botnets: possible?
I'll state up front that I know nothing about botnet formation, architecture or the like.
Simple question: is it possible for operating system manufacturers to send out an update (forcibly, preferably) that detects and disables networking on infected machines?
Alternatively, would it be possible to send out an OS update that could detect infected machines and report back IP address communication to/from the machine? This could possible be processed (in a 'big data' fashion) to narrow down botnet control paths?
I'm sure there are any number of ethical/privacy related reasons against this sort of action but we're speaking hypothetically.
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