Tag: Spam
Why you shouldn’t cut your email security costs
These days, running a business without email security exposes you to huge, unnecessary risks and costs. What is the cost of security? It should not have a price tag. Imagine having to go through thousands of emails (mostly spam) every day, just to make sure an important message does not get deleted. (Mar 29, 2010)
Policy Compliance: Keep it Simple, Stupid!
Are you getting pressured to provide some sort of regulatory compliance rules to your business that will affect your network configuration, your email flow and your end users? Do you have to deal with SOX or HIPAA or GLBA, or ‘Oh Lord, not another Acronym’ regulation (we’ll call it the OLNAA) whose apparent sole purpose is to complicate your life? (Mar 24, 2010)
(Un)subscribe me
Hundreds of emails get blocked daily by your spam filters, but sometimes one slips through. You look it over and it appears to be very legitimate. You don’t remember clicking ‘Yes’ to subscribe to this newsletter, but you see the classic, “You are receiving this because you subscribed to one of our partners… blah, blah, blah… and this is an excuse for us to send you spam. Yeah, it’s true: XYZ company is one of our partners, we do their mass mailing and we grabbed your address at the same time!” So, now you’re tempted to click the Unsubscribe button, but how can you tell if it’s legit? And how do you know that clicking unsubscribe won’t tell the spammer, “Hey I’m alive and I actually read what you sent - send me more”? (Mar 17, 2010)
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)
