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Why your services were disconnected and how to restore them

If you've been informed that your Internet service has been suspended by the security department, it's most likely that a computer virus has compromised your computer. Although the security department sometimes suspends the Internet service of customers who violate other provisions of their Bright House Networks Terms and Conditions of Use or Acceptable Use Policy, by far the majority of suspensions are the result of virus infections.

In many cases, you may not even be aware that your computer has been compromised by a virus. Most viruses make themselves difficult to detect through standard methods like using the Windows Task Manager. But they're there, doing their dirty work in the background, often using their own built-in email engine to distribute themselves to all the addresses in your email program's address book, any other email addresses the virus finds in documents on your computer, or even randomly generated email addresses.

Although Bright House Networks regrets suspending the Internet service of any of our customers, we have an obligation to protect our network and our other customers and to make sure that all our customers receive the excellent service and services they've come to expect from us. Further, if your computer has been infected by a virus, the suspension of your Internet service may actually be protecting you, as well. Some viruses capture sensitive information like credit card numbers and then transmit them to their creators via the Internet. Others open backdoors that make it easy for hackers to access your PC and pilfer your sensitive financial and personal information at will. The suspension of your Internet service may prevent this until you've had the opportunity to disinfect and secure your PC.

Bright House Networks suspension policy

If your Internet service has been suspended, you must clean your system of all infections before your Internet service will be restored. If your Internet service is restored and we receive additional complaints related to a virus infection on your PC, your Internet service will be suspended again. Any subsequent complaints related to the same issue may result in a final suspension. If your Internet service is reinstated after a final suspension and we receive subsequent complaints related to the same issue, your broadband Internet services may be permanently terminated.

Cleaning instructions

Click for step-by-step instructions about disinfecting your personal computer. Bookmark and/or print the instructions because the steps after following this link will require a reboot of your computer.

After completing the step-by-step instructions, Road Runner customers can download free Internet Security Suite software.

Virus infections pose a serious threat to other customers on our network. That's why our security department disables cable modems when computers connected to the modem are determined to be distributing computer viruses.

According to Bright House Networks Terms and Conditions of Use or Acceptable Use Policy, it is the customer's responsibility to make sure that a personal computer is properly secured, maintained and is not a threat to other computers and customers on our network.

Suspensions for other violations of our subscription agreement and acceptable use policy

If a representative of our technical support team has directed you here and you've confirmed that your computer has not been compromised by a computer virus, your Internet service may have been suspended because of a large number of emails originating from your cable modem.

If you or someone with physical access to your computer is distributing commercial email via a residential Internet account or sending out unsolicited email en masse, you've violated the Bright House Networks Terms and Conditions of Use or Acceptable Use Policy.

Bright House Networks does not permit the distribution of unsolicited commercial email, also known as spam, from within our network. If you have a legitimate need to send a large number of emails and your Internet service has been suspended as a result of doing so, please call the telephone number for Customer Service, located on your Bright House Networks bill. A member of our security department will return your call to discuss the matter and make sure that you are not violating the Bright House Networks Terms and Conditions of Use or Acceptable Use Policy.

More info on Bright House Networks policies here

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© 2010 Bright House Networks

Disclaimer: These tools have been provided for your convenience as a courtesy of the owner free of charge to the public for personal use only. All rights have been reserved by the producer of the software. Bright House Networks, Road Runner, and the software owner assumes no responsibility or liability for their use. Also, we do not offer technical support for these tools, but it can be obtained from the software owner. The products are offered by the software owner to be used free of charge and "as is" with no warranty, and no guarantee of success in preventing malicious software (malware) of any type from entering your computer, or in trying to remove it. However, Bright House Networks security departments have been able to use these tools with some success. We wanted to make you aware of their existence to provide you with additional options in the fight against malware.