Virgin Media SSDP Letter - Frightening customers.

Just took my dad back to his house in Scotland after having him down south for a month and he has received the a letter like the following - https://twitter.com/whatevillurks/st...58806131896321
This is just an image of the letter - not my twitter ect just to show.
I have checked his router just as an aside and it has upnp is off and firewall on...he doesn't actually have a computer ect I have set up a box in his bedroom for him to be able to watch footie ect.
Im bloody fuming tbh...he is 83 and if I wasn't here this letter (Which incidentally refers you to paid for security fixes and anti virus ect...so its marketing which I think is the type of thing you would get from a scam marketer)
If I wasn't here he would have been panicking like a goodun unplugging shit ect ect. I wonder how many non tech savy have been conned into buying these services. Apparently some people have been told by virgin cs that if they don't buy the software and secure their pc properly then they "may" be cut off. Really bad form from VM.

I don't think it's unreasonable for any ISP to send out a letter advising of a potential threat. After all, that threat can potentially work its way backwards across the network and possibly compromise service for other customers. How else are they going to notify people? They could call.... normally met with abuse or suspicion, write a letter, or send an email. They wouldn't sent a letter out unless something HAS been detected on the VM network. Of course they'll use the opportunity to promote their security software. That's business. No one is forcing anyone to use their security.

As for VM CS advising customers they may be cut off, I very much doubt they would threaten you with that if you failed to buy THEIR software however (although in any business, you get bell ends), it's in the T's and C's that they reserve the right to cut service if there's anything that could compromis their network and other customers. That's in ALL ISPs T's and C's.

Whilst like Dpsparhawk says its probably a genuine reason to be sent, I find VM to be relentless with their marketing and selling.

I left them about four years ago and still receive weekly letters addressed to the occupier trying to sign me up.

I've never seen one of these myself but I've read about these being issued by various ISP's when they see suspicious traffic.

A few years ago I often used to be testing various networking equipment, and sometimes I would be learning about a new device and leave it horribly misconfigured for a while which would have been sending all kinds of strange traffic through my ISP but as none of these were possible methods of infection or attack I never received any notifications. I could be talking out of my backside, but this makes me suspect they are only sending these letters out if there is the possibility of risk to yourself or others.

I can't tell from the scan you have sent, but it appears they are offering the antivirus software for free, but I cannot see the * at the bottom which may be hiding the catch.

Disabling uPNP isn't an ideal fix as if you were doing thing like gaming online it could be an issue, but saying that if it happened to me first I would disable uPNP, then figure out which device on the network is causing the problem before turning uPNP back on.

Here is an example of how SSDP can be used to launch a DDoS attack. If something like this is happening I can understand Virgin getting involved to cut down unnecessary bandwidth wastage and to avoid being an accomplice that is facilitating such an attack.

The point is he has no pc/laptop. His upnp was not enabled nor has it ever been. The only thing on his network is a bloody box connected to cs. This is marketing make no mistake. A quick google brings up plenty who have received these letters and none of them have ANY problems even when scanned ect. Most don't even have upnp enabled. The links do offer a trial for software then pay £x whatever can't remember. There is also an option to pay for them to "fix" any network issues you may have. His router doesnt even display ssid nor is wps enabled....I already took care of that when it got installed.

I would be applauding them if this was an actual problem that they had diligently identified. But it's not - this is a fishing exercise no more no less.

I got one a month or so ago, did the usually checks etc. and nothing wrong my end. Had a look on their community site and the general consensus is that VM are rolling out updates which are currently adding traffic to peoples lines. My Blue light (superhub) used to only flash when I'm on the net etc. and data is coming in and out, then one day, it just seemed to be constantly flashing and still is.

I was also annoyed at the blatant fear mongering this letter was implying and to grab their 'recommended' third party products. Genuine letter in the interest of the customer? I don't know, but if there were such issues of concern, for what we pay to use their service they are the ones who should plugging any gaps in their systems.

I also thought that Upnp was an internal network protocol and not one that bounces over the internet? Might be wrong but that was my thinking on it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ashley

I left them about four years ago and still receive weekly letters addressed to the occupier trying to sign me up.

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The previous owner was a subscriber. I get this weekly letter. I can recognise them by sight now and they go straight into the bin.