Political Spam Traffic May Rise in Coming Weeks, Warned MX Logic

MX Logic, Inc. issued a warning on September 5, 2008 to consumers and businesses about an expected rise in political spam that might begin to enter inboxes in the second week of September 2008.

The company has recommended online users need to be extra cautious against political spam e-mail as it directs the users to malicious Websites or video and audio files containing harmful content that damages computers.

According to MX Logic Inc. with many Americans using e-mails as a communication tool at large scale, major political parties in the US are likely to send huge number of political e-mails for attracting voters in the coming weeks.

Furthermore, the rising volume of political e-mails is partly accredited to the flaw in the CAN-SPAM Act which allows politicians to send e-mails without any limit. MX Logic also disclosed that spammers might launch a large number of malicious e-mails masked as political e-mails.

According to MX Logic, the recent CNN spam scam demonstrated that malicious e-mails disguised as messages from trusted sources successfully escape detection from out-of-date spam filters, and entice users to click on links and read the message which inadvertently download virus onto their PC. Moreover, MX Logic detected over 835 Million fake CNN e-mails during two weeks in the month of August this year.

Sam Masiello, Vice President of Information Security, MX Logic, said that the US Presidential Election would be a close battle between the two parties; hence, both the parties would intensify their e-mail campaigns in the coming few weeks. Obviously, spammers are also anticipating rise in e-mail campaigns so that many of them exploit it for sending the malicious messages disguised as political e-mails, as reported by MarketWatch on September 5, 2008.

The company advised online users to update their antivirus software to protect themselves from such spam messages. End-users and businesses, which are not effectively secured by their updated security services, should update their anti-spam and antivirus software on daily basis.

The security company further revealed that users should avoid clicking on imbedded links as they usually download or spread malware. It also said that instead of tracking the link, browser should be used to open the official Website or to search a particular content.

Related article: Political Campaigning in San Diego Using Spam Technique

» SPAMfighter News - 9/8/2008