Spam

Source: vnunet

Spammers are increasingly hijacking home PCs to send junk mail, according to MessageLabs.
The managed email service provider claims to have proof of spammers using viruses to plant Trojan malware on PCs to provide remote access.

Once the software is installed the PC can be used to send out spam at no cost or risk to the spammer.

"We'd speculated for some time that this may be happening, but it's always been difficult to prove," said Paul Woods, chief information analyst at MessageLabs.

Source: CNN

Internet users eager to join North Dakota's new "do-not-call" telemarketing list flocked to a registration Web site Thursday, causing delays for some who wanted to sign up early.

"The recognition of the citizens, that they value their privacy, and value their own private time, is something that led to the need for this," said Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, who opened the Web site.

Source: Washington Post

Four out of every five children receive inappropriate spam e-mail touting get-rich-quick schemes, loan programs and pornographic materials, according to a study released Monday by Internet security provider Symantec Corp.

A majority of 1,000 children ages 7 to 18 interviewed for the survey said they felt "uncomfortable and offended when seeing improper e-mail content."

Source: ZDNet

Law students at Chicago's John Marshall Law School are getting a new dose of spam--on their course schedule.
The spam serving comes courtesy of John Marshall associate professor David Sorkin, who's offering what he and his peers say may be the first law school course devoted to the subject of unsolicited commercial e-mail.

Source: ZDNet

Spam has officially overtaken legitimate e-mail in the workplace, and there’s little relief in sight.
The month of May marked the first time that commercial e-mail comprised 51 percent of all messages received by workers, according to MessageLabs, a provider of managed e-mail security services. MessageLabs only analyzed 133.9 million messages sent to its global network of business customers.

Source: ZDNet

Claiming they helped build a service that was supposed to remain free, beta testers of Cloudmark's spam-blocking system are protesting the launch of the finished version, which costs $3.99 per month.

Pelted from one side by irate beta testers, Cloudmark is also taking hits on the other side from industry analysts who question whether the crowded market for spam-blocking tools and services can support a revenue model reliant on consumer subscriptions.

Source: CNet News

Federal and state law enforcement agencies pledged to take an aggressive new approach to fighting spam: identifying "open relay" mail servers that serve as conduits for massive quantities of junk e-mail.

Source: CNet News

Federal and state law enforcement agencies pledged to take an aggressive new approach to fighting spam: identifying "open relay" mail servers that serve as conduits for massive quantities of junk e-mail.

Telewest has been hit by yet another spam attack leading to delays in its email service.

The attack happened at around 8.00am (BST) this morning and means punters could have to wait up to two hours to receive their email.

According to Telewest, the attack isn't as bad as one a week or so ago which led to the cableco's customers being without email for a couple of days.

It seems action taken then to install new kit helped take some of the sting out of the latest spam onslaught.

Source: ZDNet

Some AT&T Wireless subscribers believe a text message masquerading as spam is on the loose and damaging cell phones in the United States.

The subscribers reporting the problem each owned a Siemens S46 cell phone and said they received the e-mail this week.