Posts tagged anti-spam
A new twist on shortened URLs as spam carriers
Nov 2nd
by Paul Wood
For some time Symantec has been warning social networking users to beware of shortened URLs as sometimes it can be hard to see where the link will actually lead.
Paul Wood
Spammers have been taking advantage of shortened URLs, and during a three-month period in 2010, Symantec found that two-thirds of malicious links in social networking news feeds used shortened URLs. Seventy-three per cent were clicked 11 times or more, with 33 per cent receiving between 11 and 50 clicks. Only 12 per cent didn’t receive any clicks.
Now Symantec is seeing a new trend and it’s a new way spammers are trying to get victims to click on links in e-mails. Read the rest of this entry »
Cutwail botnet raising spam levels once more
May 12th
There has been a recent increase in the amount of malicious email traffic detected by MessageLabs Intelligence despite a continuous decrease in the actual number of spam mail distributed.
The decrease in spam is due in large part to the takedown of Rustock, the largest spamming botnet, in March. So what accounts for this increase in malware traffic?
Paul Wood
An investigation by MessageLabs Intelligence revealed that this increase is at least due in part to the Cutwail botnet.
New pharmacy spam campaign using Google brand hijacking
Feb 17th
MessageLabs Intelligence recently tracked a new pharmaceutical spam campaign promoting a supposedly “Google-accredited” online pharmacy. This is obvious brand hijacking: Google does not host or approve any pharmacy sites.
Paul Wood, MessageLabs Intelligence Senior Analyst, Symantec Hosted Services
We contacted Google about this, and a spokesperson responded with, “Google has a track record of fighting similar types of scams, and we also recommend that users carefully review online offers that look too good to be true before entering any of their information: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/fighting-fraud-online-taking-google.html“.
The spam message contains text promoting a drug for preventing hair loss, and a link to a blog the spammer has set up on a popular free blogging site, shown in the screenshot below:
[example of spam email promoting fake pharmacy brand] Read the rest of this entry »
Commit to “Loving” your data
Feb 14th
By: Blake McConnell
For most people, Valentine’s Day conjures up thoughts of candy, flowers and secret admirers. Well, here at Symantec, it makes us think about information.
Blake McConnell
Yes, information. It may not be the most romantic notion, but the amount of “love” you give your data can have a significant impact on the success of your company. Your information – from company plans to customer financial information – is the backbone of your business, so today make a commitment to giving it a little extra care and attention.
In a recent Symantec survey, 74 per cent of SMB respondents said they were afraid of losing electronic information. Read the rest of this entry »
Free anti-spam and malware tool for Facebook
Jan 22nd
Are you getting tired of clearing out all those spam messages from your blogsite’s comment section?
You’re not alone. A recent survey released by online security software company Websense Inc. says that nearly 95 per cent of user generated comments to blogs, chat rooms, message boards and other social net content are actually spam or links to malware.
If you’re engaged in any form of social networking activity to boost your professional or personal profile or if Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, BlogSpot or other such sites part of your company’s marketing campaign, that’s bad news.
Websense, however, has recently released a beta version 2.0 of its Defensio social Web threat detection platform. Read the rest of this entry »
