Security Agencies Acknowledged Increase in Spam Traffic

According to security vendor MessageLabs' State of the Spam report, July 2008, 81.5% of the total e-mails sent in June 2008 were spam. At the same time, another security company Symantec reported that the same month's spam was at 80%.

However, both security agencies - MessageLabs and Symantec - said that July's numbers declined slightly, with MessageLabs reporting that the global rate of spam in the total e-mails was at 81%, and Symantec indicating that it dropped to 78%.

Moreover, according to the Security Researchers at MessageLabs and Symantec, spam in July 2008 appeared in different forms. spammers used sensational headlines to spread trojans and malware packed in what they claimed were breaking news.

Also, security experts at both security agencies stated that in July 2008, spammers distributed spam contained Trojan.Peacomm announcing the start of World War III. These e-mails used the subject lines like "Third World War has begun", "Negotiations between USA and Iran ended in War" and "US soldiers occupied Iran" all directed readers to follow the message.

Further, according to the companies, it was not only the use of sensational headlines that lured readers, but also reports relating to the 2008 Olympics that drew the readers' attention. The companies said that spammers fully used the opportunities from the grand game event to distribute their spam messages across the world started from 2nd week of August 2008.

Also, July 2008 witnessed spam mails that attempted to offer alcohol and drug rehab, along with financial counseling for those trying to adjust with the crisis-hit economic situation.

MessageLabs reported that in July 2008, it caught spam containing links to Google domains, implying that spammers started abusing Google sites as well. However, the company said that spammers having already abused Google Pages, Calendar and Docs this isn't something unexpected.

Finally, Symantec pointed out that spam mails were being distributed, offering sale of natural products accompanied with a concealed monthly fees tag. Furthermore, to bypass spam filters, spammers had used domains with an overly long series of random characters and also modifying the sender and subject lines every time they launched the attack.

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» SPAMfighter News - 8/29/2008