Tag: spam
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Latest spam filter test shows spam catch rates have bounced back
Spam catch rates improve, but performance on phishing lags behind that on other spam. Earlier this week we published the results of the 22nd VBSpam comparative spam filter test, which saw 19 products win a VBSpam award. Overall, products performed well and most products’ spam catch rates improved, thus reversing a trend we reported earlier…
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One in ten spam messages contains drive-by download link
80-fold increase in one month. I do not think I am unique in that I can recognize (most) phishing pages from a mile away and that I know that, if I ever wanted to buy performance-enhancing drugs of any kind, I should not buy them through a link found in a spam message. However, that…
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Air Force Major Abacha Tunde needs your help
419 scam asks you to help release funds to get Nigerian astronaut back to earth. A few months ago, Microsoft researcher Cormac Herley published a paper “Why do Nigerian Scammers Say They are from Nigeria?” ( PDF ), in which he argues that the low quality of most 419 scams is a conscious choice made…
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Latest VBSpam test results show drop in spam catch rates again
Downward trend in performance continues. In the latest VBSpam comparative test of anti-spam products, 21 anti-spam solutions achieved a VBSpam award, but for the majority of products the spam catch rate showed a continuing decline. We first reported this drop in March , and catch rates barely bounced back in May . The results of…
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Cybercriminals offering service flooding email, phone and SMS
DDoS-type attack could seriously disrupt business. A new service is being offered on underground forums where between 25,000 and 100,000 emails are being sent to an email account within a short period of time, security blogger Brian Krebs reports. The emails, which effectively perform a DDoS attack on the email account, could be seriously disruptive…
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Grum botnet’s command-and-control servers shut down
Spam-sending botnet believed to be third largest in the world. International co-operation between a number of parties has led to all command-and-control servers of the ‘Grum’ botnet being taken down. The takedown gives a good insight into how these operations work, and how co-operation is essential: During the weekend, two command-and-control servers, based in the…
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Significant rise in malicious spam and phishing
Over one quarter of malicious emails contain eight-year-old malware. Email security firm eleven has reported a significant rise in both malicious emails and phishing emails in the first quarter of 2012. In its latest quarterly report, the company says that while spam levels stayed more or less constant, the volume of emails with malware attached…
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Spam catch rates drop in latest VBSpam test
Catch rates significantly lower than in previous months. In the latest VBSpam comparative test, 20 solutions achieved a VBSpam award, but the majority displayed significantly lower spam catch rates than in other recent tests. Overall, products’ spam catch rates were significantly lower than in previous months, with many products seeing their rates of missed spam…
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‘Unsubscribe’ URL in junk fax leads to malware
Trojan downloader behind .co.cc URL. Researchers at Vircom have discovered a junk fax with an ‘unsubscribe’ URL which contained a trojan downloader. Junk faxes (also known as ‘fax spam’), have been common since the late 1980s. Apart from being a nuisance, they are a waste of paper and ink. Many users would thus be happy…