Why capped broadband can improve security

[SMHarman]

Why capped broadband can improve security

As British households clamour to get broadband internet access, a few service providers have come up with all sorts of tricks to make their products appear to offer better value than they actually do.
Most broadband ADSL and cable packages provide download speeds of 512Kpos, and no limit on usage. TO their shame, some of the biggest providers, such as Tiscali and BT, are offering services which are not quite as good as they first appear. A glance down at the small print on Tiscaliââ‚à ‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s entry-level ADSL product reveals that youââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢re limited to 50 hours of surfing a month. And the press and TV ads for BTââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s most recent ADSL service fail to spell out how frustrated youââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢ll be when you realise that the monthly subscription allows you only 1GB of traffic (upload and download combined) per month. A typical Windows service pack download would eat 15% of your monthly BT quota.
Capped services such as these are probably best avoided, especially as it is possible to get an unlimited connection for almost the same price if you shop around. These restricted packages are the deals consumer columns in tabloid newspapers would refer to as rip-offs, designed to con unsuspecting technophobes who assume that big-name providers are a safe bet and offer the best value.
Twenty years ago, the biggest hurdle I had during my hacking forays was the cost of calls. Daytime calls were more expensive than evening ones, so hackers worked at night. UK based hackers rarely tried to crack US systems because the calls were so expensive, and most systems would drop the line after three of four unsuccessful password attempts. Accessing a system meant trading passwords online with fellow hackers. Using brute force to open an unknown system was too costly.
I was done hacking when every major corporation connected to the internet. I missed the ability to hack any computer, anywhere in the world, at any time of day , for a fixed monthly fee. Thousands of hackers sit a t terminals for hours searching for unpatched servers of sending emails buy the million as the hope people will run the attached Trojans and expose their machines. Unlimited internet access has great benefits. You can surf, listen to streamed audio, and partake in other bandwidth-intensive activities like videoconferencing. Bin on a capped service t, these pleasures are denied. As, of course, is the ability to hack with any degree of efficiency. Maybe capped packages have some merit, even if not in favour of legitimate customers.

From Robert Schifreen SCMagazine