Aussies Telecoms Cautioned Against Deluge Of Spam

Telecom organizations in Australia have been advised to "strengthen" their communication systems to counter junk e-mails from 'ganglands' of Eastern Europe, owing to the threatening possibility of spam.

The disturbing appearance of malevolent junk e-mails and hazardous bugs endangers the efficiency of electronic messaging and lawful Internet trade. junk e-mails also evoke other concerns like violation of confidentiality, deceptive business transaction, onerous prices and suffering.

Even as Australian law bans junk e-mails, overseas tricksters present the largest menace. Law enforcement agencies, which are extremely concerned about " phishing scam ", are advising online service suppliers to bar further spread of spam to clients. MessageLabs, the software security organization guesstimates that Australia is struck by 73 million junk emails daily, including almost 22 million phishing- linked spam.

"At the bottom of the Aussies bank scam is the Russian Mafia," alleged Brian Hay, the chief of the Queensland Police's anti-fraud team. "The same group is behind the mule staffing, as you require the cash to flee the country."

"There are various menaces linked with junk e-mails, and a new alarming tendency is the growing ratio of junk e-mails with security linked risks," averred Bruce Matthews, the anti-spam manager in Australian Communications and Media Authority.

In its endeavor to fight spam, Australia has initiated a code of practice for organizations offering e-mail facilities. The Spam Code of Practice of the cyberspace business is meant to indorse and fortify the nation's Spam Act of 2003, stated the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) on Tuesday.

As per the code, Internet services providers (ISPs) offering e-mail facilities will divide the duty of combating spam. Organizations must provide spam-removing alternatives to their clients, offering them tips to handle junk e-mails, and ways of tackling grievances.

While advising organizations to toughen their systems, ACMA is also strategizing plans to close down exposed computers before they can be exploited to dispatch junk e-mails. Large organizations can also stop spamming by applying access codes on their PC's. Now that spammers frequently employ bugs for backdoor access of computers, producing an "automatic" spamming system and anti-virus package is very essential.

Related article: ACMA Unleashes SpamMATTERS - the New Anti-Spam Button

» SPAMfighter News - 9/26/2006