You get what you pay for, so the saying goes, and those expecting a free Apple iPhone in exchange for filling out a form are getting plenty of junk email in return.
Free IPhone Sites Full Of Spam
Security firm McAfee called these offers classic bait and switch efforts. A company promises one thing, but tries to deliver something else instead.
It is an effective tactic. McAfee researcher Shane Keats said not many people ever get the promised freebie, lately the heavily hyped iPhone:
But few consumers are ever able to successfully complete all the requirements to actually get the free prize. Some sites even require the consumer to recruit 5 friends to complete offers. Industry insiders call it "breakage" - this inability to jump through all the many hoops - and they take pride in their ability to break 95% or more of the consumers who try.
People do end up getting something for free from a couple of offers, McAfee found. Plenty of spam filled test inboxes security researchers set up for the purpose:
Our inbox averaged 66 e-mails a week after signing up with easyfreecellphones.com. But our sign-up at giveawaycafe.com resulted in a stunning 511 e-mails per week!
Before giving up an email address and trying out programs that could require the completion of several offers from program sponsors, people should realize that these programs may be stacked against them.
Safari Flaw Bundled With iPhone: There's a little something extra in the Safari 3 browser residing on those pricey iPhones.
A vulnerability found last month by Trend Micro in Safari also made it into Apple's telephone/iPod/web browsing gadget. If exploited, a remote user could execute arbitrary code on Safari.
Worse, Trend Micro said researchers managed to find passwords for application root and mobile access on the iPhone. They used a password cracker to break the passwords.
Apple has enjoyed fewer security threats due to its smaller market share in the PC market. Broad adoption of the iPhone could increase the appeal of breaking it to attackers.
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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