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Summer Of Love Prompts Salacious Spam Upsurge
SecurityProNews
Staff Writer
2004-08-16
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As the temperature rises, spam is also heating up, according to Clearswift's latest spam index.
Levels of pornographic e-mails have shot up by almost 350% since June, and in what appears to be an attempt to match supply with demand, healthcare spam (most of which was Viagra) has also risen significantly.
This upsurge is reminiscent of the same period last year -- spammers appear to be purposefully increasing their pornographic output during the summer months. IT managers are warned to be particularly vigilant to guard against damage to company reputation caused by the circulations of inappropriate images.
"Companies can find their reputations compromised by the infiltration of pornographic e-mail, especially when it's not managed effectively," commented Alyn Hockey, director of research at Clearswift. "In addition to the obvious offense these images can cause, a large percentage of these e-mails attempt to dupe users into opening viruses that are maliciously hidden within Web links or zipped attachments."
But it is not only recipients of spam whose reputation is under threat. Viagra manufacturer, Pfizer, has recently begun a legal campaign against spammers touting potentially counterfeit pills via e-mail and Web sites. Recent research conducted by Pfizer revealed that a startling 25% of men believed the pharmaceutical giant itself was responsible for sending Viagra-themed spam.
Today Clearswift also announces its first virus index. The findings add weight to the predictions of IT security experts: malicious activity is getting progressively more potent, with zombie and peer-to-peer networks facilitating the spread. Zafi-B, which spreads both as an e-mail attachment and via peer-to-peer file-sharing systems, tops the chart -- with Netsky-P and Netsky-D hot on its heels.
About the Author:
SecurityProNews is a daily online and email publication focusing on internet security issues.
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