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Groups Seek to Launch New Internet Domains (AP)AP - Ten organizations submitted applications to sponsor new Internet domains, including ".mobi" for mobile services and ".xxx" for adult content, the group that oversees key aspects of the global network said Friday. Yahoo! News - Technology - Internet |
AOL Blocks Spammers' Web Sites (washingtonpost.com)washingtonpost.com - America Online Inc. has adopted a new tactic against spam: blocking its members' ability to see Web sites promoted by bulk e-mailers. Yahoo! News - Technology - Internet |
USA Today's Top 25 U.S. Bestsellers (Reuters)Reuters - The top 25 U.S. bestsellers, based on sales through Sunday, March 14, as reported by USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com). Yahoo! News - Technology - Internet |
Spam Volume Tops 90% Despite CAN-SPAMBrightMail says spam comprises 62% of email volume. Postini ups the ante at 70%. And now dymeta, builder of trimMail Inbox, reports 91%. So who's right? Everybody. Each reports through its customers' eyes... and spam settings. For instance, the average customer of a service like BrightMail or Postini may have a higher tolerance for spam than the implementor of a spam-and-content filtering appliance like trimMail Inbox. Or perhaps admins who opt for antispam appliances already have a large problem before installation. Regardless, all three have noted steady increases in spam volume since the advent of the US CAN-SPAM Act. trimMail's Email Battles |
Witty Worm Mimics Ebola, Destroys WindowsLike its natural cousin, Ebola, the Witty worm crushes its victims, destroying them before they have time to react. Each devours from the inside. And both suffer a fatal flaw: victims are destroyed too quickly to pass them on. Witty's take was still fairly impressive: 32,000 - 50,000 users of BlackICE and Real Secure are wishing they had patched their firewalls before March 20. BlackICE builder ISS says Witty exploits ISS's ICQ parsing on Win32. It broadcasts UDP packets with random destinations and ports from port 4000. Makes Windows systems unbootable. Witty's not the first to target UDP... And it won't be the last. But that's where Witty differs from Ebola. Witty and similar worms can be prevented by simply blocking UDP packets at the firewall. While it may be strong medicine for some, more and more admins are taking the cure. trimMail's Email Battles |
EMail Sales Pitches SurgingIt won't be spam... legally. But it'll still be a flood of sales messages you probably don't want to read. JupiterResearch says you can expect 19% more of it this year. And 19% more than that next year. And 19% more than that next year. And 19% more than that next year. Imagine what that will do for your mail servers. Set your spam filters from "Stun" to "Kill". trimMail's Email Battles |
ISP Dispenses Tough LoveComcast doesn't care whether you're a spammer or a spammer's unknowing zombie. If you're spewing spam, you're screwing it up for all of us. The high-rev ISP with its own checkered spam fighting record now demands that spewers start running antivirus and firewalls, or get off the line. Finally. Let's hope other ISPs are paying close attention. trimMail's Email Battles |
Worm War Slithers Across The WebThe latest PhatBot bumps the latest Netsky which ripped out the latest Bagle which replaced the current MyDoom. And they're all churning out new code, along with oceans of spam... almost daily. Mike Kelly of SecurityFocus writes: "Worms are crawling on top of worms, eating out holes in Microsoft's dominant operating systems like a giant piece of swiss cheese in front of thousands of tiny, malicious rats. I do not know to what extent Microsoft's code is scrutinized through an exhaustive security audit, but two years after Bill Gates' long-heralded announcement the holes in the cheese are larger than they've ever been." Meanwhile, the watchers at BrightMail note that since Feb 2003, spam has slithered up from 45% of the mailstream to 62%. We're witnessing a feeding frenzy. But you gotta admire that productivity. trimMail's Email Battles |
PayPal Breached!A few very dumb merchants were tricked into giving scammers their usernames and passwords. The spoofers then picked off details of recent transactions, including first and last names, mailing address and e-mail address. This, of course, lead to phishing the new targets, which lead to more targets, which lead to... You get the picture. Is it possible to protect yourself from your own users? Heaven help us all. trimMail's Email Battles |
Vulnerabilities In 2003 Top 2,600Counting every hole in every operating system, application, protocol and router... Symantec ticked 2,636. Between viruses, identity thefts and intruders, nearly half of all companies running the software claimed severe attacks. Symantec says it's gonna get worse. Why?
trimMail's Email Battles |
Accusation: Verisign Covering Up Security BreachAaron Rodden: Concerning your article on Phishers Strike PayFlow Merchants: I would argue [against] Kudos to Verisign. The phishing email contained the partner id, merchant id, customer name, company name and contact email address as it is found in Verisign's database that drives their Payflow website. The phisher was not trying to verify this information. They were trying to get additional info - for example a credit card and social security number from the Verisign Payflow customer. I kept a copy of the phishing website before I reported the incident to Verisign, the FTC, and to Yahoo (the phisher was collecting the form submit to a Yahoo email address). Back to my point, the info in the phishing email isn't information someone can just gather from the Internet. This is customer data specific to the Verisign customer database and I believe they are covering up a security breach and have actually violated their customer privacy policy; but everyone seemed to miss that. trimMail's Email Battles |
Spam Birthdate Winner AnnouncedWas spam born March 94, January 94, or May 78? Seems everybody has a favorite date, along with proof. In any event, it gives the old dogs a chance to prove tenure. The Nominees:
trimMail's Email Battles |
Phishers Strike PayFlow MerchantsA letter from VeriSign Payment Services: "On March 11, 2004, VeriSign was made aware of a situation where an email, purporting to be from VPS Support, asked customers of our services to confirm their Partner ID, Merchant Login, and company name. This email (Subject: Confirmation of your VeriSign Payflow Account,) originated from an unauthorized individual who spoofed a VeriSign email address to make the communication look legitimate. Customers receiving this email were asked to click on a link that would send them to a confirmation site that would then collect Merchant information. "Incidents of this nature, where someone attempts to secure sensitive information through these means, are referred to as Phishing scams. Unfortunately, Phishing scams are becoming more and more prevalent on the Internet. "Within an hour of learning about this situation, VeriSign had the Internet Service Provider (ISP) shut down the site attempting to collect merchant information. We are working with the ISP and the authorities to gain access to site data, in an attempt to ascertain if any damage has been caused. "Please note that compromise of a merchant's data could only have resulted if a merchant had clicked on the link provided in the spoofed email and provided information. If your company did not respond to this email, your account is safe and no further steps are needed. However, if you clicked on the link and provided your information, then it is possible that an unauthorized person has acquired personal information about you as well as your account access information that was stored on our computer systems. If you fear that your information has been compromised, please contact us immediately... and our support team will work with you to address and fix the problem. "We would like to emphasize that VeriSign will never ask for you to confirm your Login ID, Partner ID or password via email, or ask for any personal information. Never give your password to anyone and only log in at https://XXXXX.XXXXX.XXX. Protect yourself against fraudulent web sites by checking the URL/Address bar and by clicking on the Secure Site Seal to validate the site every time you log in and before entering any sensitive information. Our customer support staff is available to assist you with your accounts." Verisign finally does a Good Thing. Kudos for the quick response. March 17, 2003 Update: After Aaron Rodden's findings, we're putting those kudos on hiatus. trimMail's Email Battles |
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