Spam
19 July 2012
Huge spam botnet Grum is taken out by security researchers BBC News
A botnet which experts believe sent out 18% of the world's spam email has been shut down, a security firm said.
18 July 2012
One of the World's Largest Spam Botnets Still Alive After Suffering Significant Blow CIO
One of the world's most active spam botnets -- Grum -- was crippled after two of its command and control (CnC) servers hosted in the Netherlands were taken down, according to researchers from security firm FireEye.
12 July 2012
Series Of Convincing Spam Runs Part Of One Massive Advanced Attack Campaign Dark Reading
Recent widespread spam runs posing as convincing-looking email messages from LinkedIn, Facebook, ADP, American Express, US Airways, the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, and several other high-profile organizations are all part of a single, orchestrated attack campaign using the Blackhole exploit kit and aimed at stealing victims' online financial credentials, Dark Reading has learned.
06 July 2012
Spam and e-marketing complaints rise by 43% in the UK BBC News
Complaints about spam and other unsolicited electronic marketing in the UK jumped 43% last year, says the Information Commissioner's Office.
06 June 2012
Spam Is Still a Big Problem, and Here's Why Mashable
If you want to get your malicious software loaded onto 1,000 U.S. computers, it will cost you about $100 (or a dime each) on the black market. Getting your malware on 1,000 machines in Asian countries will cost you only $5.
25 May 2012
Russian spam mastermind jailed for creating botnet BBC News
A cybercrime mastermind who hijacked the PCs of more than 30 million people has been jailed for four years.
01 May 2012
Mobile Spam Texts Hit 4.5 Billion Raising Consumer Ire Bloomberg
... Spammers can get phone numbers from the Internet, or use software or websites to randomly generate thousands or even millions of numbers in a particular area code. Often using prepaid phones that can't be traced back to the sender, they can then use auto-dialing technology to reach recipients.
25 April 2012
India overtakes U.S. as the world's top email spam source Computerworld
The volume of email spam that originated from India during the first three months of 2012 exceeded the volume coming from the U.S. and transformed the Asian country into the world's top spam source, security firm Sophos said on Monday.
16 April 2012
Is there any way to stop the scourge of text message spam? Slate
Two years ago, I got a text message from a number with a Las Vegas area code. "Thanks for visiting our site!" it read. "Claim your $100 Gift card at www.topgiftsnow.com. Gift Code: 13Z76F. To end reply STOP." Annoyed, I typed "STOP" and hit send. The next day I got another one. "STOP," I typed again. Then came the deluge. "Clearance pricing on new cars!" my phone buzzed. "Start a career in law enforcement!" "You have 1 unread message from your secret crush!" At first they were all from Las Vegas. Then they were from Oregon, Idaho, and Nebraska. Every buzz meant another text message charge on my bill.
08 April 2012
Spam Invades a Last Refuge, the Mobile Phone Text message New York Times
Text message spam has started waking Bob Dunnell in the middle of the night, promising cheap mortgages, credit cards and drugs. Some messages offer gift cards to, say, Walmart, if he clicks on a Web site and enters his Social Security number.
07 April 2012
Twitter files lawsuit against alleged spammers and spam tool providers PC World
Twitter has filed a lawsuit against "five of the most aggressive tool providers and spammers" in a federal court in San Francisco, opening a new front in its battle against spam, it said Thursday.
06 April 2012
Spam levels still low a year after Rustock botnet takedown ars technica
In March 2011, a Microsoft-led team targeted and decapitated the Rustock botnet, and a dramatic decrease in spam traffic was noticed almost immediately. It turns out that a full year later, spammers have not been able to fill the gaping hole left by Rustock's absence.
Eluding a Barrage of Spam Text Messages New York Times
"Do you need up to $1,300 today?" I was recently asked. Except for perhaps Mark Zuckerberg, who doesn't?
15 March 2012
Security Firm eleven Reports Spam Trends a Year Following Rustock Web Hosting Industry Review
In a report released on Wednesday, German email security firm eleven released its observations almost year after the Rustock botnet was shut down on March 16, 2011. According to the report, spam levels in February 2012 were 61.2 percent below the value from February 2011, right before the Rustock shutdown.
10 March 2012
Stores Smarten Up Amid Spam Flood Wall Street Journal
Retailers have started to wear out their welcome in customers' email inboxes, forcing stores to rethink their spam strategies.
08 February 2012
Canada's anti-spam law goes too far Globe and Mail
The magnificent convenience of electronic communication should not be ruined by the nuisance known as "spam": the indiscriminate bombardment of people's e-mail inboxes. But the well-intentioned act of Parliament commonly known as Canada's anti-spam law overreaches in more than one way, unduly weighing down electronic commerce, and potentially affecting many Canadian companies - including The Globe and Mail, in its interactions with readers.
26 January 2012
Canadian Anti-Spam law: Staying out of 'The Freezer' with your email campaigns IT Business
There are no firm dates yet, but authorities intend to implement Canada's anti-spam law sometime this year.
05 January 2012
Facebook, Twitter battle 'social' spam Wall Street Journal
Facebook and Twitter are building up their forces to fight an emerging enemy: "social" spam.
04 January 2012
'Spam capital' India arrests six in phishing probe BBC News
Police in India say they have arrested six foreign nationals suspected of defrauding hundreds of people using text message and email scams.
08 December 2011
Yahoo awarded $610 million in spam case Computerworld
Yahoo has won a lawsuit against spammers, a legal victory that also includes a default judgment of US$610 million.
02 December 2011
A spam filter for HIV is in the works Los Angeles Times
HIV: a deadly virus that kills an estimated 5,000 people a day. Spam: annoying emails that infiltrate your inbox and try to get you to shell out for erectile dysfunction drugs, credit cards and international scams purportedly involving Nigerian princes.
15 November 2011
Has the spam problem been solved? Computerworld
Microsoft founder Bill Gates said in 2004 that the problem of spam would be solved within two years. It seemed unlikely at the time, and in fact 2006 came and went without so much as a dip in the crushing load of unwanted email advertising.
02 November 2011
Half of spam now comes from Asia ZDNet
Asia is now the top contributor of spam among all continents, accounting for over half of all spam messages relayed globally, reveals a new report released Wednesday.
26 October 2011
Spammers create their own URL shortening services Computerworld
Spammers have created their own services to shorten URLs (uniform resource locators) in an apparent attempt to circumvent security measures in place at well-known shortening websites, according to Symantec.
28 September 2011
India cap on text messages to thwart telemarketers BBC News
The telecoms regulator in India has put a cap on the number of text messages which can be sent from a mobile phone.
