Spam in your in-box

 

The world wide net is an ocean in which to throw a wide net of coverage for cybercriminals looking to make a quick shekel or two. 

 

  Welcome hubber to our continuing discussion of the threats to computers using the World Wide Web to do business, socialize, or just obtain information.  In the hub “The Internet is a profitable business if you’re a thief” we discussed the threats of phishing and viruses, today we will discuss the threat of e-mail spam, some solutions to the problem and recent legal ramifications.

 

  You may have seen an increase in the instances of spam appearing in your In-box during the past year and apparently a lot of people did.  According to Postini, a San Carlos, California based Internet security firm, recently purchased by Google that processes over 1 billion e-mail messages a day.  Spam increased by over 161 percent during the period from September through June of 2006 and currently represents about 94% of all e-mails.  But opinions and results of surveys have varied as Consumer Reports reported their survey indicated respondents received a decrease in spam reaching their In-box.  Many believe the differences could be due to differences in security features as spam blocking ability has increased in both quality and quantity in recent months.  Surveys indicate that 60-70 percent of respondents used their own spam filters, up about six percent from last year.  And all of the larger Internet service providers have tightened the parameters on their spam filters to combat the invasions in recent times.

 

  30 percent of respondents to surveys have indicated instances of pornographic or some form of objectionable material in the spam, down ten percent from last years results.  Five percent of parents with online access in the home reported a child seeing pornography due to instances of spam in their In-box about the same as last year.

 

  28 percent of respondents indicated they fell for the bait by trying to remove themselves from the mailing list by clicking on the link provided for this in the e-mail, while just 17 percent tried to opt out by replying to the message with a negative answer or actually purchasing something.  Fortunately, this percent is decreasing as three years ago this rate was as high as 40 percent in some surveys.

 

  Thieves evolve, so the fight against spam and all the threats present on the Internet is far from over and will likely continue…  Nearly half the respondents regularly receiving spam indicated they are receiving a lot more despite increased efforts.  Around fifty percent of those receiving regular spam reported receiving fraudulent solicitations, and 40 percent were outraged at invasion of personal privacy.  Based on the numbers we feel that at least 660,000 consumers purchased a product of service advertised in spam during most of the months of 2006.

 

  Cybercriminals running these scams are evolving to trackers attempts to follow their nefarious schemes back to the source, moving offshore in many cases in an attempt to stay beyond the grasp of law enforcement officials given the task of shutting these scams down and bringing the culprits to justice.  And certainly these changes make both sides of the law and criminal equation more difficult to achieve for both law officials and cybercriminals manoeuvring for position against each other on the World Wide Web.

 

  In order to protect yourself from spam always use an effective filter, we will have the ten best anti-spam programs in additional hubs in coming days for those who want to find suitable protection, and never reply or purchase anything from a spam message. 

 

  Despite the passage of the federal Can-Spam Act almost four years ago, this act gave law enforcement officials new weapons to combat spammers, the effectiveness of this act is still hanging in the air like a question mark above the problem of spam.  While it has brought some accountability to commercial e-mail and given law enforcers legal grounds upon which to proceed against offenders, it has also legitimized some spam and forestalled the implementation of stronger state laws to combat spam. 

  Law enforcement officials have been busy, since 2004 the Federal Trade Commission has brought 26 cases against spammers using the Can-Spam Act, according to officials at the FTC’s division of marketing practices.  The moderate success of these cases brought before the courts, close to $13 million in penalties were awarded in these 26 cases, has brought a glimmer of red on the horizon below the growing light of hope, hopefully this isn’t the headlight of an on coming train on the Internet-tracks though.  Two high profile spam cases have been in the spotlight so far in 2007.  This spring, Robert Soloway, a Seattle-based Internet marketer, was indicted for allegedly sending millions of e-mail messages, most of it promoting bulk e-mail services, over a four year period, so far he has pleaded not guilty.  Earlier in 2007, Jeffrey Goodin, a phisher from Azusa, California became the first spammer to be criminally convicted under the Can-Spam Act.  His six year sentence has certainly sounded the warning bell for many individuals currently conducting nefarious e-mail affairs and you can expect to see more in the coming months.

 

  Well that’s it for this hub, we hope we were able to give you information you can use to protect yourself from cybercriminals currently targeting you.  Join us in coming hubs as we will discuss spyware, the threat online social networks can pose for your children and of course present solutions to the problems.  Until next time, happy hubbing!

 

~ by warrenhayashi on October 16, 2007.