Putting a choke on internet outgoings?

[lugoteehalt]

If part of the purpose of attacking peoples' computers over the internet is to form botnets, then does it make sense to put a choke on the amount of stuff that is allowed to be sent out from your computer?

If the computer will only put out 0.1KB/sec or whatever this might be enough to communicate with websites but not enough for a botnet - the evil terrorists and Russian mafia are thereby dumbfounded.

As is probably obvious I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Is this sensible and how is it done?

[techwise]

Is this sensible and how is it done?

On a Linux system it is easy to do. Or it could be done on the firewall. But while a good thought its not really sensible. Its just a patch for an infected computer. And these days you want all the bandwith you can get even if it is just for browsing. Mobs, Russian hackers etc... are already dumbfounded if youre not using Windows (for the most part).

If this is a real concern for you or you just want to mess with this kind of networking then you should install a monitoring and intrusion detection system. You can set limits that trigger protection behaviors if those limits are exceeded etc...

Its a really interesting field of IT. I wish I had time to tinker and learn more about it.

[lugoteehalt]

you should install a monitoring and intrusion detection system. You can set limits that trigger protection behaviors if those limits are exceeded etc...

Its a really interesting field of IT. I wish I had time to tinker and learn more about it.Thanks for the intelligent reply. Sorry to be a bit idle but "monitoring and intrusion detection system" - could you suggest something?

[techwise]

Take a look at:

Snort
Shadow
Acid
Zenos
Tripwire
Prelude

There are many.

Cheers.