| Spam-fighters – tricking the tricksters
Computer security analysts who fight spam face the same thankless task as goalkeepers: they don't get much credit for the unsolicited email they stop, only demerits for the ones that get through.
The sheer volume of spam still threatens to bring the internet to a crisis point. Up to 90% of all email traffic is spam, a figure that has crept upwards in recent years. The forecast isn't good either.
"We see spam just going up to the point where internet servers start having difficulty," says Steven Linford, chief executive of Spamhaus, a London non-profit organisation that generates a list used by technology companies and organisations running email servers to block spam.
"Spam will tend to increase to where it will be 99% of all email on the internet," he says.
McAfee Total Protection 2007
So many security threats now target our PCs every day that combating them all involves an arsenal of protection software. To save you needing to install multiple programs, McAfee's aptly-named Total Protection 2007 package covers no less than 10 danger areas to offer comprehensive and complete security when you're online. Features Essentially an enhanced version of McAfee Security Center, Total Protection combines the essentials anti-virus and anti-spyware tools and a firewall with a variety of powerful features for virtually every conceivable internet risk. These include the ability to conceal your presence on the web, activate parental controls, back-up and restore files, block spam and remove rootkits. The software monitors your wireless network for security weaknesses, prevents hackers from connecting and encrypts your personal data.
Spam fighters cede ground in escalating conflict
Computer security analysts who fight spam face the same thankless task as goalkeepers: They don't get much credit for the unsolicited e-mail they stop, only demerits for the ones that get through. But those few messages that wriggle past increasingly sophisticated filters constitute the greatest threats on the Internet. The messages range from relatively harmless pitches for human growth hormones to ones with malicious code attached that could steal passwords or documents from a machine. The sheer volume of spam still threatens to bring the Internet to a crisis point. Up to 90 percent of all e-mail traffic is spam, a figure that has crept upward in recent years. The forecast isn't good, either. "We see spam just going up to the point where Internet servers start having difficulty," said Steven Linford, chief executive officer of Spamhaus, a London nonprofit organization that generates a list used by technology companies and organizations running e-mail servers to block spam.
Alt-N Technologies Continues to Deliver Trusted Messaging ...
GRAPEVINE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alt-N Technologies today announced the latest release of its trusted, Windows-based email platform, MDaemon® 9.5. With this release, users will benefit from over 50 feature enhancements that have been incorporated into the platform and the addition of an enhanced security plug-in designed to thwart new email security attacks. For over 10 years, customers in over 90 countries have relied on the MDaemon server to deliver feature-rich email performance without the requirements of complex administration and expensive support staff. With this new version, customers will benefit from an improved SyncML server designed for mobile device synchronization, which now also supports Sync4J clients, Spam Traps which automatically feed the spam filter helping block spam and spam sources, custom scheduling and mail queuing for more flexible outbound mail management.
Looking at Microsoft's Windows Vista coupon program
As someone who recently purchased a new PC, the last thought that crossed my mind was waiting for Windows Vista. I needed a simple and cheap work machine that was stable. WindowsXP Home was just fine with me, so I purchased the new PC about a month ago and it's been working just fine since. Of course I loaded on spyware catchers and virus protection as well as email spam blocking software. If a PC is protected very well, these issues are generally not a problem -- and at least for me, they have not been.But after reading that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) may be giving heavy discounts to purchasers of new PCs this holiday season, or even coupons for free upgrades, I was intrigued. Perhaps I could receive a copy of Windows Vista for next to nothing or even for free? But then the sensible me woke up and said, "don't mess with something that works" -- and my new WindowsXP system works, and works fine.
Can an American judge take a British company offline?
Had a court in Illinois done what the winner of a case there desired, billions of spam emails could have begun landing in the inboxes of 650 million people all over the world - including the European Parliament, US Army, the White House and Microsoft - every day this month. The reason: Judge Charles Kocoras, of the district court of the northern district of Illinois, was asked to rule that a British company called Spamhaus, which runs a commercial spam-blocking service for 700 million users, should have its website taken away for failing to comply with an earlier court order - which was to stop blocking emails from e360Insight, a Chicago-based bulk emailing company. Spamhaus has for some time maintained that e360Insight belongs on its list of "known spammers"; in June, David Linhardt - the owner and operator of e360Insight - sued, asking for monetary damages and removal from Spamhaus's list.
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