Virgin rapped on broadband claims

29 June 2011 Last updated at 15:31 GMT The campaign included links to an Ofcom report on broadband speeds Virgin Media has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority for an online campaign accusing rival broadband services of "conning" customers.

The campaign, called "Stop the broadband con" was aimed at changing the way other broadband providers advertised their services.

BT and Sky complained and the ASA ruled in their favour.

It means the campaign cannot appear in its current form again.

"We considered the ad went beyond highlighting the disparity Virgin believed existed between advertised broadband speeds compared to those that were delivered and implied that other ISPs dealt with consumers dishonestly in relation to broadband speeds," the ASA ruling said.

Virgin Media argued that its campaign was intended to highlight "widespread dissatisfaction among consumers about the advertising of broadband speeds."

It is an issue that has been highlighted by Ofcom. Research conducted in March found that just 14% of customers on 'up to' 20Mbps services received speeds of over 12Mbps, while 58% averaged speeds of 6Mbps or less.

In response to the ruling a Virgin Media spokesperson said: "Advertising 'up to' broadband speeds you can't deliver is a con. The ASA, Ofcom, numerous consumer groups and thousands of internet users have all reiterated our call for change and, instead of complaining about a legitimate effort to give consumers a voice in the debate, Sky and BT should step up to the challenge and start being honest about their broadband," a Virgin Media spokesperson said.

It has called on Ofcom to force providers to advertise typical speeds rather than 'up to' speeds.

BT welcomed the ASA's decision.

John Petter, managing director at BT Retail, said: "This is incredibly embarrassing for Virgin Media: its campaign for the industry to use 'average' as opposed to 'up to' speeds relied on misleading broadband users to make its point. It also claimed that it delivers around 90% of advertised speeds to customers which, amongst many other incredible statements, was found to be untrue."

The ASA also told Virgin Media "to ensure their marketing material did not discredit or denigrate other marketers".

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Virgin alerts infected customers

17 June 2011 Last updated at 07:27 GMT The spread of the SpyEye virus has been monitored by law enforcement agencies About 1,500 customers of internet service provider Virgin Media have been warned that their PCs are infected with a malicious virus.

The targeted computers had fallen victim to the SpyEye trojan that steals log-ins for online bank accounts.

Virgin was alerted to the infections by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).

Letters were sent to those affected, giving them advice on how to clean up their machines.

Virgin is understood to be the first UK ISP to give specific warnings about viruses based on SOCA's advice.

However, the UK Internet Service Providers Association said that it was not unusual for companies to contact customers as a result of information from other law enforcement bodies.

It is impossible, at this stage, to know how many other ISPs' customers are affected by SpyEye.

Early warning

Virgin company stressed that it had not been monitoring user activity, rather some of their customers' IP addresses were found by law enforcement while investigating criminal botnets.

"It's a small number compared to the four million customers we have," said a spokesman, "but regardless of that, because of the seriousness it's still important to communicate with our customers."

The letters stress the seriousness of the situation and urge customers to update their security software and scan their machine to find and remove the malicious program. Alternatively, customers can sign up for a help service that allows Virgin to remotely find and fix problems.

The spokesman added that the Virgin campaign started in August 2010 and since then it had sent letters to "several thousand" customers about a serious infection on their home computer.

"The category we are looking at are the ones that put our customers at most risk or the ones that will steal from them," he said.

SpyEye first appeared in early 2010 and has steadily gathered victims ever since. Some machines are infected via booby-trapped webpages or by tricking people into clicking on links that lead to the trojan being installed.

The SpyEye trojan and its many variants are being produced with a software kit that allows novices to put together their own versions of the malware. The kit, which costs $500 (?310), also comes with a tool to help control all the PCs that are infected.

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