spam

Features

• PDF files most trusted...and most targeted

  PDF files are one of the most common, and most trusted document formats out there. However, that trust, combined with the cross-platform use of PDFs makes the Adobe file format one of the most targeted and exploited by malicious attacks as well.

• ClamAV promises free antivirus app for businesses

  Most of us don't like paying for antivirus (AV) software, but at least home users can rely on one of the free options, such as Microsoft Security Essentials, avast!, or AVG Free.

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  Text message of 'death' threatens smartphone security

  Security researchers have shown that carefully crafted text messages sent to cell phones via short message service (SMS) can cause them to shutdown without the knowledge of the owner.

• Microsoft sues mobile ringtone company for phishing, spam

  Microsoft has sued a Hong Kong seller of mobile ringtones, saying the company used phishing techniques to flood Microsoft Live Messenger users with spam messages.

• China remains spam haven due to 'bulletproof' hosting

  An overwhelming majority of Web sites promoted through spam are hosted in China at service providers that many times choose to ignore complaints and allow illegal activity, according to research from the University of Alabama.

• Cloudmark security suite addresses growing SMS spam

  As mobile users are more frequently pestered by SMS spam, one security vendor is applying its experience in stopping e-mail spam for mobile networks.

• Spammers cashing in on Twitter, Iran, new iPhone

  Spammers are never far from a hot story, it seems, and in the past day they've been flooding Twitter with phoney messages about Iran and the latest iPhone 3.0 operating system.

• 10 IT agenda items for the first US CIO

  Obama's appointment of Vivek Kundra marks an important first step for rectifying the nation's concerns about IT.

• 9 Dirty Tricks: Social Engineers' Favourite Pick-Up Lines

  What the average guy might call a con is known in the security world as social engineering. Social engineering is the criminal art of scamming a person into doing something or divulging sensitive information. These days, there are thousands of ways for con artists to pull off their tricks (See: Social Engineering: Eight Common Tactics). Here we look at some of the most common lines these people are using to fool their victims..

• Spam is silenced, but where are the feds?

  On October 14, the US Federal Trade Commission, with help from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and New Zealand police, announced that it had shut down a vast international spam network known as HerbalKing.

• Will the real spam king please stand up?

  As more and more spammers are arrested, prosecuted, and sued under state and federal antispam statutes, there's one thing you can count on: Someone somewhere will invariably call the targeted spammer a "spam king."

• Famous last words about spam

  What Gates, McCain and others have said about those pesky, unwanted e-mails.

• Spammers in the slammer

  A compilation of the most notorious convicted spammers