ISPs reject call for cooperation

Internet Service Providers (ISP) have dismissed calls by the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) to change the way they deal with hackers. They claim they already talk to each other and share information about online security breaches.

Gary Hurr, managing editor at BT Internet, said: "At the top level and over very serious issues of common benefit, we do talk to other ISPs, but there are so many out there. We are a member of ISPA, which we take seriously and would like to discuss this issue with them."

AOL agreed: "We do already talk to each other if it is an issue that affects us as well as other ISPs, and if it is beneficial to both parties to do so." A spokeswoman for Virgin Net - which unlike BT and AOL is not a member of ISPA - said: "It is always good to reinforce it, but we already talk to each other over things like that. We may fight tooth and nail over advertising market share but when there are problems such as hacking we all share information."

ISPA chief executive, David Kennedy, said the association is in the process of drawing up a draft code of best practice agreement in which it insists its members cooperate in response to a spate of attacks on ISP servers.