Tag: Spam
Spam by the numbers
So you think spam volumes have gone down, right? Wrong! Have a look at this video which captures the stats quite well…. (Mar 10, 2010)
Spamhaus releases a new spam-fighting tool
Spamhaus publicly released its new Domain Block List (DBL)1earlier this week, after beta testing it for much of last year. They claim they have had “exceptionally positive” results from the testing, and the premise is really quite interesting. (Mar 03, 2010)
Battle of the Newsletters: Marketing 1, Security 0
While working on a False Positive (yes, it can happen to the best of us), I was stunned to discover how marketing people can bend email security rules. (Feb 22, 2010)
Catch a botnet by the tail
Catch a lizard by the tail and it will shed its tail and run free. This is a fun fact of nature (even more fun when you’re a kid) and a very clever trick to fend off a predator’s attacks. And did you know that if you try to catch a botnet, chances are the same thing will happen? (Feb 19, 2010)
“Love is in the air” ...or is it?
Ah, Valentine’s Day, the time of year when suddenly everyone is starry-eyed and declaring their love for one another. Our eagerness to please our loved ones tends to make us a little more vulnerable. And this makes us perfect prey to scammers who pounce on these vulnerabilities to spread their viruses and scams. (Feb 11, 2010)
How would you punish a spammer?
“Last time out I suggested sentencing spammers to some quality time in a maximum security cell with an ex-biker named "Tiny." But I think that's too good for these people. They should be strung up by their thumbs and forced to watch ShamWow infomercials and Rick Astley videos until their ears bleed.” Robert Cringely, InfoWorld 1 (Feb 03, 2010)
Incompetent email security spam filters cause historic business to change name
The Beaver is, at 90 years old, Canada’s second oldest magazine. Founded in 1920 and named after Canada’s symbol and fur-trading history, the Hudson's Bay Company publication is devoted to popularizing Canadian history, aiming to make Canadians more aware and appreciative of their heritage. Two weeks ago, the venerable magazine had to change its name to Canada’s History because its newsletter and emails were being trapped by spam filters around the world. (Jan 29, 2010)
Spam: Surveying the Surveys
Another year has passed and it seems everyone is busy publishing their year-end security reviews, survey results, and fearless predictions for the upcoming year. (Jan 20, 2010)
2009 Spam Review
2009, according to the Chinese calendar, was the Year of the Ox: “People born in the Year of the Ox are patient, speak little, and inspire confidence in others.” Well that description pretty much sums up most of the spam sent in 2009: the perpetrators tended to say little in the messages, but oh did they inspire confidence – in the criminal sense! 2009 showed a remarkable increase in Phishing/Fraud content. (Jan 11, 2010)
10 Resolutions You Shouldn’t Break This Year
It's that time of the year again..time to make (and break) resolutions. Here are some things to help you keep your email and network safe from malicious attacks. Resolutions you don't want to break! (Jan 08, 2010)
How do you fix a bad reputation?
In an earlier post, I had written about the various security measures to take to prevent losing your good reputation.But what happens if you find yourself on someone’s blacklist? What do you do? (Jan 06, 2010)
Spoofing: are you who you say you are?
Spammers often play games with the 'From' field but there are Internet standards that can help you easily determine whether the sender is who he claims to be. (Dec 11, 2009)
You only have one reputation – don’t lose it
Having a bad reputation might have seemed cool when you were a teenager, but if your email server has been given a bad rap, it’s definitely UNcool – especially if your business depends on delivering email. Trying to get your reputation back can be time consuming and costly, so the best approach is to do your utmost not to lose it in the first place. (Dec 02, 2009)
Help spammers create new email accounts
You are about to subscribe to a website, a newsletter, get a free email account, or try to download something. You’ve never heard of this site before but it has what you need. Before you can click Confirm, you’re asked to complete a Captcha validation. Okay, no big deal: you enter the string and press “Confirm.” (Nov 30, 2009)
How can we stop the botnets?
Botnets are a fascinating piece of software – yes, they really are! Although they lie deep in the “dark” stack of widespread tools that are used to perpetrate cyber-crimes, they really shine as well-engineered structures. They are forced to constantly evolve because of the current and on-going “arms-race” between security experts and cyber-criminals. (Nov 20, 2009)
What, me worry?
Incidents of cybercrime via malware and exploits are on the rise, but if this recent poll is to be believed, people are still too blasé about their Internet security. The Unisys Security Index: Global Summary report 1 revealed the following: “Concerns over security in everything from online shopping and banking to safety from computer viruses, as well as national security along with personal and financial security, were significantly down over what was recorded half a year ago for populations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Netherlands, Spain, Australia and New Zealand. (Nov 18, 2009)
Anti-Spam, Hacking and Virus Security: How Will Smartphones Survive?
With a double-digit market growth rate, non-existent protection and super-fast communications based on a variety of protocols and media, Smartphones clearly are a future target of choice for hackers and spammers. How will they survive, and at what cost? (Nov 13, 2009)
Botnet Generated Spam
Botnets are networks of compromised machines that are under the command and control (C&C) of one entity - the botnet master. They are typically used for crimes such as denial-of-service attacks, identity thefts, phishing and, most commonly, for sending spam. Current botnets have easy-to-use HTML-based interfaces and can be rented out by spammers for their various spamming campaigns. Researchers reported that during 2008, 85% of spam was generated by six botnets (Mega-D, Srizibi, Storm, Rustock, Pushdo and Cutwail). (Nov 06, 2009)
The Future Of Email Security: Where Do We Go From Here?
There’s no denying that anti-spam filters are imperative in the fight against junk mail and malware, but no single solution is fool-proof. Employing anti-spam and virus filters, stronger passwords, encryption, and so on, are not enough to win the battle against the ever-increasingly sophisticated attackers. (Nov 04, 2009)
Top 3 Spam Trends for October
The top 3 spots were determined by the sheer volume of messages that were tracked by our system. In third place, it was a tie between "Lose WeightInstantly" PDFs and the flood of messages that originated from Chinese (cn) domains. (Nov 02, 2009)
