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WE'RE HAVING A spam wave---more like a tsunami! The rate of junkmail began skyrocketing in 2006! 63 billion spam messages were sent in October 2006, more than double dispatched in October 2005! Unbelievable? No! This a real problem we have to address.
This upswing is attributed to technological innovations in the way junk mail is sent. Spam fighting software is good at rejecting mail from servers that are known to spread spam all over the globe, but spammers are getting better at setting up botnet---which are networks composed of broadband connected PCs that are directly connected to a cable or DSL modem. These are the connections that spammers are looking for. So these connections are particulary at risk of being commandeered. Don't think you are exempt!
Now how do you keep your computer from being shanghaied into a botnet? Make sure you have a good firewall and a secure browser ( to be blunt use Firefox NOT IE). Make sure your router is protecting you from intruders: check your documentation to confirm that you are taking advantage of the firewall features included with most home routers.
Botnets aren't new at all! It's just that spammers have become more adept at distributing and concealing them. Some of these guys are geniuses!
SPAM FIGHTERS
Major ISPs and mail portals are improving spam filters almost as quickly as spammers can introduce new techniques! Another set of geniuses on our side! Yes!
Unfortunately some antispam efforts haven't proved to be effective. Federal authorities have prosecuted a handful of businesses under the three-year old CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-solicited Pornography and Marketing) Act. But this law has no jurisdiction over spammers overseas.
By the end of 2006 roughly 40 percent of all legitimate mail received by Hotmail users was being authenticated using Sender ID. But the system works only if major phishing targe sites participate. For example a phishing site with a domain name that's a misspelled version of a bank's name could publish its mail server information, and Sender ID would authenticate mail from the malicious site. You can see for yourself how well sender authentication works by forwarding your mail to a Hotmail account (to test sender ID) or to a Yahoo mail account (to test DomainKeys).
This upswing is attributed to technological innovations in the way junk mail is sent. Spam fighting software is good at rejecting mail from servers that are known to spread spam all over the globe, but spammers are getting better at setting up botnet---which are networks composed of broadband connected PCs that are directly connected to a cable or DSL modem. These are the connections that spammers are looking for. So these connections are particulary at risk of being commandeered. Don't think you are exempt!
Now how do you keep your computer from being shanghaied into a botnet? Make sure you have a good firewall and a secure browser ( to be blunt use Firefox NOT IE). Make sure your router is protecting you from intruders: check your documentation to confirm that you are taking advantage of the firewall features included with most home routers.
Botnets aren't new at all! It's just that spammers have become more adept at distributing and concealing them. Some of these guys are geniuses!
SPAM FIGHTERS
Major ISPs and mail portals are improving spam filters almost as quickly as spammers can introduce new techniques! Another set of geniuses on our side! Yes!
Unfortunately some antispam efforts haven't proved to be effective. Federal authorities have prosecuted a handful of businesses under the three-year old CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-solicited Pornography and Marketing) Act. But this law has no jurisdiction over spammers overseas.
By the end of 2006 roughly 40 percent of all legitimate mail received by Hotmail users was being authenticated using Sender ID. But the system works only if major phishing targe sites participate. For example a phishing site with a domain name that's a misspelled version of a bank's name could publish its mail server information, and Sender ID would authenticate mail from the malicious site. You can see for yourself how well sender authentication works by forwarding your mail to a Hotmail account (to test sender ID) or to a Yahoo mail account (to test DomainKeys).
Guide created: 06/11/07 (updated 04/01/09)
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