Spam distributors are gradually abandoning email as a medium and shifting to more effective channels such as blog spam (splog), mobile messaging, web messaging (spim), and social networking communities like MySpace…
American email service company MessageLabs has reported that this new strategy will help spammers target specific demographics based on age, geographical location, personality, and interests. According to Mark Sunner, the Chief Technology Officer of MessageLabs, social networks have inadvertently “provided” spammers with comprehensive user profiles.
MessageLabs also emphasized that instant messaging spam, also known as spim, is on the rise. “The number of connections made through instant messaging is increasing. These links will lead people to sites that download malicious code or online scams,” Sunner asserted. “We are concerned that the situation will become even more serious when Yahoo, MSN, and Google are interconnected.”
Sunner indicated that MessageLabs is seeking ways to combat spam on personal websites.
In relation to internet threats, American security firm McAfee reported yesterday that it has identified its 200,000th piece of dangerous software and asserted that this number is expected to double by 2008.
From 1999 to 2002, McAfee’s database remained relatively stable with about 50,000 virus definitions. However, since then, the number of software programs used to attack user systems has continuously increased.
Conversely, large-scale virus outbreaks seem to have become a thing of the past. In 2004, McAfee recorded 48 viruses that had widespread attacks. By 2005, only 12 incidents were reported, and there were no cases at all during the first seven months of 2006.
The increase in viruses coupled with the decrease in large-scale attacks highlights the “professionalization” of hackers, who are no longer seeking notoriety but are now focused on exploiting vulnerabilities or user negligence to make money.
