Modem hijacking possibly tied to Internet fraud against Irish consumers has moved Ireland's Commissioner for Communications Regulation (ComReg) has announced a block on telephone calls to 13 countries in October.
Most of the countries are small South Pacific nations, such as the Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, and Nauru, whom some analysts say could suffer a small hit of travel losses and other business activities. The stated reason was an upsurge in modem hijacking – Net hackers based offshore rerouting computer users' links to the Internet, a practice which was feared to be widespread on the fringes of the adult Internet a few years ago.
Irish press reports indicate over 300 victims of auto-dialer fraud, one case of which is said to have cost one small Irish business almost $15,000 in telephone charges.
Modem hijackers surreptitiously install software on a user's computer and change their Internet dialup settings, with the culprit able to claim a portion of the cost of the call, which run typically at $6 per minute. Some fringe adult Websites are still suspected of using the practice as well as some unofficial music download sites and sites offering pirated software.
ComReg also ordered Internet service providers to tell customers about programs that can block modem hijackers, Irish media added, telling the ISPs to do it within two weeks about those options.
The main problem ComReg might have with the modem hijack crackdown is bumping up against the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which obliges signatories including Ireland to do away with any obstacles to trade and to maintain open telecommunications networks.
