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Plusnet wants resellers' SME customers and is willing to pay

Shhhhhhhhh, just don't mention the outage or security issue

Biz broadband and calls provider Plusnet has called on distie DMSL to muster dealers that want to flog its services to SMEs weeks after the latest web wobble.

The timing on recruitment could be better for the Sheffield-based ISP following an outage on 4 March that downed services for an hour.

Connectivity wholesaler DMSL will prise open a new Plusnet Dealer Programme which coughs commissions for third parties that can lure commercial organisations to sign up.

Any tech channel biz that can convince SMEs to pen a contract is then able to track sales and full billing via a Plusnet portal.

"With the growth of social media and the importance of online sales, connectivity is more important than ever to small businesses," said Nick Silvewood, Plusnet's head of business.

Indeed it is.

The crash last month was blamed on network errors caused by pesky punters using third-party routers that were compromised due to a vulnerability and directing malicious DNS traffic through to Plusnet's IP ranges.

The weakness allowed the allocated DNS server to the router to be changed and resulted in requests to domains such as Facebook or Google being re-routed on all devices behind the router to a website containing a "malicious payload disguised as a Flash update".

Plusnet said the routers it provides are not vulnerable to this hijack.

Other ISPs made similar claims including telco Andrews & Arnold, which branded this type of attack as "pharming" – where web traffic is sent to servers controlled by the attacker.

Back in January, Plusnet came under fire for slack security because it was transmitting customers' personal details over an unencrypted web page. ®

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