Some insight into spam and "infected" computers
Nov 18, 2008 2:16:51 GMT
Post by CharlieChomper on Nov 18, 2008 2:16:51 GMT
Admittedly, I have not really had very much in the way of time lately to sort through articles to post (although, I still have loads more of them) and likely may not have time to post any until probably January, however, I thought I'd post this, at least, as it's a bit more "time sensitive" (as Yahoo removes their articles after a certain length of time).
It's mainly with regards to a major hosting source of spam having been shut down after over a year of attempting to do so, but mainly what's of interest is in just how difficult it is at times to shut down the spammers and sheds some light into what's involved in doing so (although, what it leaves out is in how some places which had previously had anti-spam laws have had those laws overturned as being "illegal"--in the US, for instance (and this is hardly the only place or part of the world) where such laws have been repealed or declared illegal) it had happened with a US state of where the spammer claimed that the law was supposedly unconstitutional on the basis that it supposedly violated first amendment rights to "freedom of speech" and he actually won on appeal to where the law was repealed and he was spared the massive fine and jail time he was facing due to it).
Among the other things it highlights (and which I had mentioned to some extent in the past) was in the use of infected/infested computers to further spread the spam and make it more difficult for those attempting to track its source.
Now, while there are a large number of people out there who are good in keeping updated their anti-spyware and anti-viral software, there are also those who either fall under the category of thinking it supposedly "will never happen to [them]" and/or throw caution to the wind or act as though it's somehow "no big deal" and that the malware is only a major issue or inconvenience to them in the form of having to do a possible reinstall.
While it's nothing to become paranoid over, at the same time, it illustrates why people should be more careful about their online security and part of the consequences involved as it isn't just a problem that is affecting them personally but may be affecting countless others in the form of spam that may be appearing to originate from their compromised computer (or their computer being used as a gateway for it) or something more nefarious (as the spammers and writers of malware as well as those involved in the much more illegal side of things are all now working together).
It's mainly with regards to a major hosting source of spam having been shut down after over a year of attempting to do so, but mainly what's of interest is in just how difficult it is at times to shut down the spammers and sheds some light into what's involved in doing so (although, what it leaves out is in how some places which had previously had anti-spam laws have had those laws overturned as being "illegal"--in the US, for instance (and this is hardly the only place or part of the world) where such laws have been repealed or declared illegal) it had happened with a US state of where the spammer claimed that the law was supposedly unconstitutional on the basis that it supposedly violated first amendment rights to "freedom of speech" and he actually won on appeal to where the law was repealed and he was spared the massive fine and jail time he was facing due to it).
Among the other things it highlights (and which I had mentioned to some extent in the past) was in the use of infected/infested computers to further spread the spam and make it more difficult for those attempting to track its source.
Now, while there are a large number of people out there who are good in keeping updated their anti-spyware and anti-viral software, there are also those who either fall under the category of thinking it supposedly "will never happen to [them]" and/or throw caution to the wind or act as though it's somehow "no big deal" and that the malware is only a major issue or inconvenience to them in the form of having to do a possible reinstall.
While it's nothing to become paranoid over, at the same time, it illustrates why people should be more careful about their online security and part of the consequences involved as it isn't just a problem that is affecting them personally but may be affecting countless others in the form of spam that may be appearing to originate from their compromised computer (or their computer being used as a gateway for it) or something more nefarious (as the spammers and writers of malware as well as those involved in the much more illegal side of things are all now working together).
