Spammers exploit home high-speed connections
Next time you're looking for a culprit for all that junk mail flooding your inbox, have a glance in the mirror. Spammers are increasingly exploiting home computers with high-speed Internet connections into which they've cleverly burrowed.
E-mail security companies estimate that between one-third and two-thirds of unwanted messages are relayed unwittingly by PC owners who set up software incorrectly or fail to secure their machines.
David Lawrence, 43, owns such a computer, which turned into a "spam zombie" when a virus infected it in October. Five or six spammers were using his cable modem to remotely send pitches for products like Viagra and boosters for cell phone signals.
"Spammers and the people who write these viruses ... is their life so void that they feel they have to mess up other people?" said Lawrence. "To me, it's criminal."
The self-employed businessman from Tifton, Ga., said he learned of his computer's culpability when his Internet service got suspended. "I called to find out what was going on because I knew I had the bill paid," he said.
Lawrence is by no means alone.
