ISPs and financial-services companies are to share data about botnets under a pilot program announced today by the US government. The White House also unveiled a voluntary set of principles developed by an industry group to prevent and detect botnets and a consumer-education campaign about the computer viruses.

Howard Schmidt, the White House cybersecurity coordinator, said that the botnet problem is too big for one industry and so there needs to be partnerships. The Homeland Security and Commerce departments in September sought comments on a voluntary industry program, saying that botnets have emerged as an increasing threat during the past several years.

The voluntary principles announced today include coordinating across sectors and confronting the problem globally. They were developed by the Industry Botnet Group, comprising trade groups including the Business Software Alliance and TechAmerica.