You didn't get the virus from your ISP

it amazes me how much misinformation is still going around. Peoples conceptions about how or why they get virii infecting their systems. Since one of the primary focuses of my job is remove malware from client computers, I've become exceedingly good at it. The stuff that amazes me is when people wonder why they have to pay for a service to remove the virus that's now stopping them from getting online.

There are a few major schools of thought on this, I'll go over three, starting with a common one, but not one I'd like to focus on today.

"You're supposed to be providing a service. I can't access that service. This should be free!" ... Since our positioning is as PART of the ISP's infrastructure... (factually not the case)... they believe that if for any reason, they cannot get online, it falls into our (the ISP's) job to fix whatever the issue may be. No exceptions. Unfortunately, we only guarantee internet coming out of the back of OUR modem. If YOUR equipment can't receive the signal and utilize it, well, that falls into our department as much as your broken TV falls into the task of your Cable Co.'s jurisdiction to fix it. AKA, not.

This next one is super common...

"But I have XYZ Security software from you to prevent this type of thing!" ... Okay. Just because you got a virus while using a service we re-sell on behalf of another company, does not entitle you to use a paid service for free because something got past it. If you would've read the service agreement, I'm sure you would have seen a 'best effort' clause... stating that the protection is not 100%, that they can only defend against KNOWN virii. Hense, if the virus is NEW, or not yet known, you can still get it.

I love that one.

... not.

This last one is less common but just as irritating:

"I get internet through you and therefore I got the virus from you, so it's your obligation to fix it" ... okay. You didn't get your virus from us, you got it from the INTERNET. There are a lot of people and places on the internet, and scanning all traffic for virii is an ASTRONOMICAL TASK!! We're not going to do that, nevermind the fact that even if we did, it wouldn't be perfect (see previous point). YOU were the one dumb enough to click the link and run the software, on YOUR equipment... the internet works fine, you're just a dumbass. Just because we provide you with a connection between you and the web doesn't make it our responsibility what you do with that.

Enjoy your virus.

Anyways, I had to rant there briefly, I hope noone minds. Play safe, and keep away from those damn dirty virii.