A celebration of ... SPAM? (02:00) Report Reuters Video
Mar. 16 - SPAM has only been around for 72 years but its colorful history is bright enough that there is an entire museum devoted to its past. Over the past 72 years SPAM has gained a world-wide following and it's popularity continues to grow as the global recession forces consumers to tighten their pocketbooks and look for less-expensive food substitutes. For those who might not know much about its origins, its colorful past might give you a SPAM craving. SPAM sushi anyone? Ruben Ramirez reports from Spamtown, U.S.A. SOUNDBITE: Norm Kjome, SPAM Ambassador
14 April 2008 New spam-related webpage found almost every three seconds, Sophos reports Sophos reveals "Dirty Dozen" spam-relaying countries for Q1 2008 IT security and control firm, Sophos, has published its latest report on the top twelve spam-relaying countries for the first quarter of 2008. Experts at SophosLabs scanned all spam messages received in the company’s global network of spam traps, and have revealed that 92.3 percent of all email sent during the first three months of 2008 was spam. In addition, during this period, Sophos found 23,300 new spam-related webpages every day, or one about every three seconds. For the first time, Turkey’s contribution to the global spam problem puts it in the top three offending countries. Compromised computers in Turkey are now responsible for relaying 5.9 percent of the world’s spam, compared to 3.8 percent in the final quarter of 2007. Between January and March 2008, the US and Russia maintained first and second place respectively, but both countries did manage to reduce their contribution to the worldwide spam problem compared to the final three months of 2007. However, over the last year the number of spam messages sent from compromised Russian computers has more than doubled. In the first quarter of 2007, Russia was in tenth position in the chart, relaying just three percent of the world’s spam – today this figure stands at 7.4 percent.
Spam Volume Doubles and is More Likely to be Malicious August 12, 2008 Marshal TRACE midyear threat report warns 45 per cent of Internet users are at risk from new cyber criminal tactics LONDON, 12 August 2008 –Cyber criminals are using ‘blended attacks’ to distribute malware and links to hacked websites via email on an unprecedented scale. Unpatched browsers are putting more than 45 per cent of Internet users at risk when they visit legitimate websites infected with malicious code. Three botnets are responsible for 75 per cent of all spam, pumping out billions of messages every hour through zombie clients and being used to launch mass attacks on websites. These are the key findings of the Marshal Threat Research and Content Engineering (TRACE) report for the first half of 2008.
HOW TO FIGHT SPAM!!! - Spam-fighting links If you're new to the fight against spam, this site is for you. I've started to compile a list of sites and resources that will help you to understand what spam is, why it's bad, and what you can do to help get spammers kicked off of the Internet, which will indirectly reduce the amount of spam you receive every day. Unfortunately, the only way to receive less spam is this way... asking nicely to be removed might very well work in a few situations, but is more likely to result in more spam!
The ROKSO List - The Register of Known Spam Operations (ROKSO) database collates information and evidence on known professional spam operations that have been terminated by a minimum of 3 Internet Service Providers for spam offenses. 200 Known Spam Operations responsible for 80% of your spam. 80% of spam received by Internet users in North America and Europe can be traced via aliases and addresses, redirects, hosting locations of sites and domains, to a hard-core group of around 200 known spam operations ("spam gangs"), almost all of whom are listed in the ROKSO database. These spam operations consist of an estimated 500-600 professional spammers with ever-changing aliases and domains. The vast majority of those listed here operate illegally and move from network to network (and country to country) seeking out "spam-friendly" Internet Service Providers ("ISPs") known for lax enforcing of anti-spam policies.
Spam and Virus Partnership Still Strong - MAY 29, 2007 Is your spam sandwich buttered with a virus? Although spammers and criminals have many tools at their disposal, e-mail remains the method of choice for attacks, according to MessageLabs. Spam rates reached 76.1% in April, up 0.9% over March's 75.2%, but lower than the peak of 94.5% observed in July of 2004. That means that three out of every four e-mails is spam.
