Variation of spam

Recently, a reader of TOCT was very confused when being "questioned" by an ISP about using a computer to attack a number of websites even though it was completely not done! The culprit may be from spam, which is beginning to attack online blogs, IM messages and mobile phones.

Peter Shinbach, a PR staff of a US company, just had to "close" his Bach Door blog (blog) page because the blog received a series of spam in the form of feedback but only All information about betting and drug advertising. Ironically, while the blog site receives more and more spam, its email box reduces spam - the service provider 's (ISP) software and filters are capable of blocking about 95%. spam.

Shinbach is one of the first victims of spam (collectively referred to as spam) targeting blogs, IM messages and mobile phone messages. Meanwhile, the amount of spam in the form of email continues to increase but is no longer at the speed of 2 numbers like last year. Many ISPs and email service providers say that blocking more than 90% of commercial messages is not required.

According to an expert of market research firm Ferris Research, anti-spam utilities currently work quite effectively. In contrast, other forms of spam are in the development phase. And according to an expert from security company CipherTrust, regardless of the type of message users use there, there are the presence of spammers (spammer).

Comment spam is one of the new forms and another form called splog (short for spam blog), blog created merely for advertising purposes.

Spammers often create dozens, even hundreds of splogs on which to link to their website, thereby increasing the position of that site in Google's access rankings and other search sites. Another type of splog that entices web surfers to click on an ad that links to sites that pay splog.

A spokesperson for Technorati, a blog specializing in blogging, predicts that 10% to 15% of the 70,000 blog pages created every day are splogs, and that number will continue to increase in 2006. This "suspicious" blog site has become an obsession for Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, as well as companies that offer free blogging services. Many companies are trying to offer software that identifies splog, similar to programs that recognize normal spam.

Blog users who are experiencing spam problems can get support from sites like Splogspot and Splog Reporter, able to gather content-based information to help network administrators filter the content they need. set.

SPAM - DO NOT EXCEPT AN AI

Spammers are also trying to attack IM messages and mobile phone messages. An expert predicts that about 10% of IM messages are spam, future IM spam will be everywhere due to the online IM network (Microsoft and Yahoo announced plans to give allow their users to "communicate" with each other. In addition, the development of IM messaging services via mobile phones will make this a lucrative bait for those who spread junk and even "holes" that help the virus spread through spam.

Spam in text on the phone is also on the rise. In fact, there has been at least one case of spam messages being sent to court: in February, the US federal court met Verizon Wireless's demand to ban travel agents Passport Holidays ( Florida) sends unsolicited messages to Verizon Wireless customers. Furthermore, Passport Holidays has agreed to pay $ 10,000 to Verizon Wireless. The Verizon Wireless application accuses Passport of sending 98,000 unsolicited messages to Verizon Wireless customers encouraging them to call a toll-free number to register for a trip.

A Cingular expert said service providers not only rely on the law to cope with this problem and are using filters and other tools to prevent spam.

Cingular also allows its customers to "lock" messages at certain times of the day and "ban" all messages sent by e-mail.

Wireless service providers say customers will never see spam messages because their spam filtering software has blocked most. Verizon Wireless is working very closely with ISPs to learn the best way to combat spam.

While ISPs become more proficient in filtering spam in e-mail form, this type of spam becomes "more grim" than before. According to the owner of the advertising company via New-Approach (Israel), the filters have made it more difficult to distribute spam, so spammers must break the law to achieve the desired results. want.

THE WAR IS NOT COMPLETED

However, it is against the US law to bring spam that can pass the filter (for example, sending personal mail to send promotional information). 2003. Therefore, many spammers conceal personal information by using computers that have been "enchanted" (also called spam zombies) to send spam.

According to the FBI's chief Internet Crime Complaint Center, spam zombies are one of the biggest challenges for this organization. And not only are more spammers using this technique to increase spam, but e-mail itself becomes even more malicious and mysterious. Also according to this center, spam has only bothered users before, but now, they can bring incalculable risks.

In 2005, more than half of the 15,000 complaints sent each month to the ICCC center were related to fake email. These messages appear to be the same as e-mail from a banker or financial institution to entice users to provide personal information (such as name and account number, for example) and then proceed with the attack. this account.

A new variant of phishing email is "spear phishing", involving fraudulent messages that appear in the name of an individual, company or organization that has a relationship with the recipient. The idea here is that spams of this type will make it easier for users to "get in" because they are more willing to respond to this type of email than an e-mail from Ebay asking users to update information.

And so the fight against spam is still a lot of episodes: as soon as advanced tools are put on the front, new cunning ways open up another front.

MONEY IS NOT EASY

Mike, a professional spammer, but not very well known, said that spamming is no longer easy to make money as it used to be because current mail filters work very well. Moreover, arrest is always an obsession for spammers as the US government increasingly tightens anti-spam laws.

So Mike is trying to change the way it works: now, he earns about $ 500 a week by selling IP addresses of "vulnerable" computers (sometimes called zombie PCs) to Advertising agency to send spam. This way, although the amount earned is less than direct spamming, Mike believes that this way reduces the risk of being caught.

PC World America contacted Mike through a website where spammers often meet and share experiences. He agreed to interview the US World PC on condition that he could hide his real name.

Do you think what you did was wrong?
I don't need to know what people think.

Why didn't he send the letter legally? CAN-SPAM law allows you to do so.
Playing in the right way is a poor business. Today, the only way that people distribute spam can bypass ISP filters is to be fooled, but according to CAN-SPAM law, techniques to deceive anti-spam filters are illegal. France. So if you don't want to end your career in front of a horse, don't let them (the government) find you.

Is the anti-spam law and filters being successful?
Right. Currently, major ISPs block e-mail from suspicious sources. They filter spam based on the address of the sender, keywords, links, images or anything in the mail. The better the filter, the more determined we will be. It's not that the spammers want to break the law, but we are only looking for any loopholes to bypass the filter.

Why is he still involved in the spam business, while this job is increasingly dangerous and less money than before?
For me, that's what I know to do and I hate to give up because it's like accepting defeat.

For you, what is the future of distributing spam?
Not so good. Investing in computers and software does a great job at risk. There are many younger people I also work in distributing spam. But for most people like me, making money is no longer easy. We are slowly giving up this job.

You are seeing changes in anti-spam, so what do you think?
People distributing spam today are very diverse. They work with adware; they have many controlled computers in their hands and they are also the ones who create computer viruses. People who distribute spam today not only send advertising information, but also want to get your credit card information, infect your computer to turn it into a zombie PC.

Will spam disappear?
Spam will never disappear. If no one really cares about spam and the user never buys anything advertised, the spam will disappear. It simply doesn't happen.

PC World USA 4/2006

Update 13 December 2018