Anti Spam - SpamUnit

The war on spam gets tougher with each advance in technology by spammers. Here, a new type of image spam - one that goes undetected by much spam guard software and even some spam firewalls - can circumvent e-mail filters by embedding spam text in a background or template image. Most spam filtering software “shoots on sight” against unsolicitied images that are used merely as attachments to junk emails, but background images are sometimes left alone as they tend to be used more legitimately. Not any more, it seems; by abusing the template function, spam software makers have found a new way to reach their audience.

It’s a different type of image, but it’s not quite a new type of spam. McAfee, antispam software specialists, noted that regular image spam rates are falling, and it seems that this new method is just going to fill the gap. Spam blocker software must evolve to deal with this new threat, and it is set to do so very soon. To prevent spam such as this from reaching your inbox, it is now best to configure your spam tool to disable all images except from trusted sources. This way, you can enable images in mails that are important to you without risking having spammers reach you in an unwanted way.

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Botnets and “Zombie PCs” - virus-infected computers that are programmed to send out spam mail - are well-known now, but what is less commonly acknowledged is the potential human cost of these machines. According to the FBI, there is a growing problem with vital systems being taken over by botnets to launch spam virus attacks and spam campaigns - and they aim to stop it.

Indeed, recently the bureau charged a man in connection with a botnet attack that left a Chicago hospital’s IT system in turmoil; the zombie virus delayed vital medical services as the PCs were compromised. James C. Brewer of Arlington, Texas was found by law enforcement to be responsible, being linked with the freezing and crashing of key medical computers. Spam filtering software itself could do nothing to prevent it, as this was a spam virus issue; computer instability is an inevitable by-product of machines heavily infected with virii.

As well as being used to spam, these botnet PCs are also sometimes used for DOS (Denial Of Service) attacks and for identity theft purposes. Regular antispam techniques alone cannot stop them; full virus protection is also required. For more details, check out this page: http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/06/14/news_business/local/e9ef36409dc0caf5862572fa0016878a.txt

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One of the most persistent professional spammers listed since 2003 on Spamhaus ROKSO (Register Of Known Spam Operations) database, has been arrested in Seattle Washington in a joint operation conducted by the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, the FBI, FTC, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations and the United States Postal Inspection Service.

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As spam gangs become more organised, antispam organisations such as Spamhaus are under greater threat. DOS (Denial Of Service) attacks are becoming increasingly common as spammers look to fight back against those who would publicise their IP addresses and email addresses so that users can block spam in their mail clients. Spamhaus, which provides information to be used with the Outlook Express and Outlook spam filter, among others, were rendered inaccessible by these attacks. The SURBL (Spam URL Real-time Block List) and URIBL (Black List) were briefly taken down. Thankfully, they were brought back up before too long and can be accessed at http://www.spamhaus.org.

Also attacked was the Rules Emporium, which provides rulesets for SpamAssassin, a noted anti-spam tool. By limiting access to the site, spammers hoped to achieve two things: firstly, to intimidate the webmasters, and secondly to restrict access to email spam filtering resources in general. The site is back up and can be accessed at: http://www.rulesemporium.com if you want to learn more about how spam tools and spam filtering services work.

Numerous other organizations, both related to spam and law enforcement, have been under attack as well, but the general rule is that, the higher-profile a company or group is, the more risk they run.

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