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Beware
of automatic dialling by your computer Sri Lanka Telecom has once again reiterated the need for its customers who are already using or intend to use its IDD service while enjoying dial up internet facility provided by any internet service provider, to take precautions to safeguard their IDD connections. This comes in the wake of repeated complaints by subscribers despite periodic notices sent to this effect by SLT for the past two years. SLT engineers say that while using the internet facility, if you accept certain terms and conditions shown on web sites maintained in many countries, your acceptance enables automatic dialling of IDD calls from your telephone to certain destinations, without your knowledge. This in effect means that once you finish browsing the internet, the computer dials numbers if the phone with IDD connection is not in use and is still connected to the computer. Among the countries where such sites are maintained are Princepe Sao Tome, Latvia, Solomon Islands, Cook Island, UK Mobile, Japan Mobile, Liechtenstein, Guinea Bissau, Nauru, Kiribati, Tokelau, Estonia and Diego Garcia. The automatic origination of such IDD calls is only noticed when the monthly invoice with IDD call charges are received. SLT advises that a secret code is used when the internet facility is connected so that such inadvertent automatic dialling of IDD calls is prevented. Assistance with regard to the secret code could be obtained from the Regional Telecom Office Manager. According to IT experts, there are other simple and equally effective ways of preventing such automatic dialling. First among these is to physically disconnect the modem from the phone line i.e. isolate the computer from the phone. Since the "intrugents" take over the administrative control of your machine, another way to prevent such software from taking over is to increase the security policy of Internet Explorer thereby increasing internet security. |
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