Re: META SPAM: warning

From: bill@wkidston.freeserve.co.uk
Date: Wed Aug 27 2003 - 14:52:15 MDT

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    On Wed Aug 27, 2003 12:45 Robert J Bradbury warned:
    >
    > This is just warning to list members that the SPAM
    > situation is going to get worse before it gets better.
    >
    > Apparently a distributed denial of service attack has
    > taken out one of the major source points for lists
    > of systems distributing undesirable emails [1].
    >

    http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/communications/story/0,2000048620,20277794,00.htm

    ZDNet confirms:
    "Osirusoft, one of the largest anti-spam black-list, has been shut down
    by its operator following a barrage of massive Distributed Denial of
    Service (DoS) attacks that have crippled the service."

    But there are many people who don't like 'spam blacklists' and never use
    them. I agree with the opinion that says they are more trouble than they
    are worth. They are notorious for blacklisting the wrong people. Most
    people will have had incidents of email lists going missing because they
    were wrongly blacklisted.

    Bayesian logic and whitelists are much better methods for controlling
    spam. Getting an industry-wide whitelist, though, is probably
    impossible. But each user can have their own whitelist to junk all the
    spam that arrives in their mailbox.

    I am not so worried about the spam nuisance as I am about the suspicion
    that organised crime is behind these virus attacks. See:
    http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39115886,00.htm

    Quote:
    "An antivirus expert claims Sobig is the work not of 'script kiddies',
    but of sophisticated criminals who want to take control of PCs
    "Sobig smashed all the records in terms of pure numbers, but that's not
    nearly the whole story," said Simpson. "This is the sixth in a series of
    controlled experiments. This isn't about some kiddy writing viruses in
    his bedroom -- this is really a very sophisticated example of organised
    crime."

    Simpson explained that the purpose of getting Sobig onto the computer is
    not to cause damage or purely to drive wide and rapid spread, but to
    gain control of machine, by downloading a Trojan and gain access to
    information such as bank details for the purpose of fraud. Such tactics
    effectively hand control of the machine over to the virus writer.

    It will also enable unscrupulous marketers to disguise the source of
    spam by abusing victim's computers and identities.
    End quote

    This means that users have to get as serious about protecting their PC
    as they are about protecting their car and their house.
    Locks, anti-theft systems, alarms, gates, scanners, the whole lot has to
    be installed and kept up-to-date to keep the thieves out.

    Not a very pleasant prospect, really. :(

    BillK



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