| Spammers gear up for pre-Christmas blitz
A sudden increase in spam has been identified in the latest security report issued today, as cyber-criminals gear up for a pre-Christmas blitz. Spammers are using new weapons to evade detection by conventional security software and increase their success rate, according to the October 2006 Intelligence report from security firm MessageLabs. One of these is a 'dropper' variant of the Warezov virus, which instructs the infected computer to download a second component, an executable file, from an IP address. Usually the .exe file downloads a spam message and email addresses, turning the infected computer into a spam production house, MessageLabs senior analyst Paul Wood told vnunet.com. Using a dropper technique means that Warezov does not have to deliver all its code in the initial infection, making it harder to detect using conventional antivirus software.
CONSUMER NEWS: Verizon customers can block spam
If you are a Verizon customer and receive spam on your wireless phone, you can block messages from senders. Customers are able to block certain text messages by logging on to www.vtext.com, going to "MyTXT" and choosing "TXT blocking" from the drop-down menu. Options include blocking all messages sent from the Web, or designating certain addresses from which you don't want to receive text messages. send a letter to the editor. .
Could I use spam to make a profit, legally and ethically?
Last night on my drive home, I listened to a story on 'pump-and-dump' spam that's being sent out on a daily basis. You know the stuff, "Stock XYZ is going to go ballistic today!!!", which it often does because there's a fool born every minute who'll believe this and act on it. Presto, the stock's up for a couple of days, the spammers sell theirs and then everyone starts getting wise and selling off. A week or so later, the stock's 5% or so lower than when it started. No one wins, except the spammers. I'm not big into stock, but I started wondering if it would be ethical and honest to start arranging for a put on the stocks that are listed in these spam messages. You know, one of those arcane devices thought up by stock analysts that let you sell the stock now, hoping it's price will go down, and then you have to purchase the real stock at a later date. Since it's pretty normal for these stocks to drop after the spam has run its course, you'd be pretty sure of making your profit, just not in the way the spammers are expecting. Unluckily, the owners of the stock in question still lose out in the bargain.
Spam levels reach record high
Levels of spam rose sharply in October to account for 89.07 per cent of all email during the month, according to figures from SoftScan. The security firm warned that, unlike during the summer months which can create misleading statistics on spam levels as the amount of legitimate email drops, the latest rise is all due to additional spam. Spam levels reached a record breaking 96 per cent in early October, supporting estimates that the trend over the whole month has been much higher than in the past two months. "The spam highs normally seen in the summer are brought about by the low levels of normal business email as many people are away from work taking their summer holiday," said Diego d'Ambra, chief technology officer at SoftScan. "But this time the levels of legitimate email have stayed the same and the spike is purely due to a marked increase of nearly four per cent in spam." Virus levels remained low during October, however, accounting for just 0.41 per cent of email scanned by SoftScan.
MySpace to block copyrighted music
San Francisco, Nov 1: Social networking site MySpace is set to crack down on users who put copyrighted music on their profile pages, according to an announcement.The move announced on Tuesday comes after the site was bought for nearly $600 million earlier this year by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. whose efforts to increase advertising have alienated some long time users.Many others are reportedly upset about increased levels of spam and porn on the site, and a deluge of other unsolicited messages.The latest surveys show the number of unique visitors to MySpace dropped 4 percent in August to some 49 million. While MySpace dismisses this as a seasonal adjustment, the ban on the use of copyrighted material could drive more users away.MySpace said it will use a file-filtering application to scan old and new content to weed out any unauthorised material.The company said illegal files would be removed and persistent offenders would be banned from the site."MySpace is staunchly committed to protecting artists' rights, whether those artists are on major labels or are independent acts," MySpace CEO and co-founder Chris DeWolfe said.
MySpace to Block Copyrighted Music
SAN FRANCISCO - Social networking site MySpace is set to crack down on users who put copyrighted music on their profile pages, according to an announcement Tuesday. The move comes after the site was bought for nearly $600 million earlier this year by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. whose efforts to increase advertising have alienated some long-time users. Many others are reportedly upset about increased levels of spam and porn on the site, and a deluge of other unsolicited messages. The latest surveys show the number of unique visitors to MySpace dropped 4 percent in August to some 49 million. While MySpace dismisses this as a seasonal adjustment, the ban on the use of copyrighted material could drive more users away. MySpace said it will use a file-filtering application to scan old and new content to weed out any unauthorized material.
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