spam

News

• Are we winning the war on spam?

  Global spam numbers in the first quarter of 2012 were down 40 per cent compared with a year ago, according to security firm Commstock's latest quarterly Internet Threats Trend Report released today.

• How to avoid 5 common email management mistakes

  Email managers have a lot at stake. After all, the volume of global electronic messages sent via email dwarfs all other forms of electronic communication, including social networking. Since the inception of electronic mail, which, according to some Internet historians, can be traced to a small mainframe app called 'MAILBOX' from the mid-1960s, human-to-human messages have been created, transmitted and stored in electronic format. But early email administrators could hardly have envisioned the complexity of current email infrastructure and the concomitant maze of technical, security, business and regulatory challenges.

• How the Phoenix Suns basketball team takes on social media attacks

  Every sport has its fans, and the Phoenix Suns basketball team is finding that use of social networking has become one of the main ways to keep in touch with its fan base -- though it can get dicey when basketball fans across the NBA go a little wild before big games.

• Nokia to pay $55k for spam SMS

  Nokia has copped a $55,000 wrist-slapping from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), accepting an enforceable undertaking for infringing the Spam Act 2003.

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  IBM predicts five big technologies of the future

  IBM today issued its sixth annual look at what Big Blue thinks will be the five biggest technologies for the next five years. In past prediction packages the company has had some success in predicting the future of telemedicine and nanotechnology.

• For Android, paid mobile security is better: Study

  As with your computer, the best defense against malware is a good offense in the form of security software. Paid mobile security apps are much better at detecting malware in Android devices than free antivirus applications, according to a study by AV Test today. If your business relies at all on smartphones, make sure that you and your employees are protected with the right mobile security package.

• Microsoft leaves Duqu worm exploit unpatched

  Today is Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday for the month of November--the eleventh Patch Tuesday of 2011. It is a light month from Microsoft, with only four security bulletins. The big news, though, is that a zero day flaw being exploited by the Duqu worm is not among the vulnerabilities fixed by Microsoft today.

• Hotmail's 'graymail' filter will help business

  All the major Web-based email services have junk mail folders and spam filters that strain out obvious offenders. Categorizing messages and filtering out those you don’t want may help, but limits control. It would be nice just to tell your email program which messages you want to receive and when--and dump the rest. Windows Live Hotmail may be coming a step closer to that, with changes announced this week.

• ACMA issues warning for Spam Act breach

  Less than 24 hours after fining a telco service supplier for a Do Not Call Register infringement, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), has handed down a spam email formal warning to Sydney computer supplier, Apus Corporation.

• Microsoft, Adobe unleash flood of security updates

  Today is Patch Tuesday again. The ninth of the year already. Microsoft has released five new security bulletins, and Adobe has joined the party with some security patching of its own today. With all of the vulnerabilities and updates, though, you need to take a step back to prioritize and figure out which patches are most urgent.

• Google's war against scraper sites continues

  Google appears to be getting ready to launch another offensive against website scrapers.

• Botnets decentralise after Redmond’s kingpin takedowns

  Recent efforts by Microsoft and law enforcement to take down the biggest spamming botnets may have helped fight pharmaceutical companies but they have had little effect on overall spam levels.

• Report: Spam is at a two-year high

  Spam - particularly the kind with malicious attachments - is exploding, reaching a two-year high overall, which includes the spike last fall just before the SpamIt operation folded its doors, a security firm says.

• Scammers shift targets beyond the PC

  Career criminal Willie Sutton was often quoted saying that he robbed banks "because that's where the money is." The legend sounds good, but Sutton actually said in his biography, "Go where the money is...and go there often."

• Android users least prepared for rise in mobile malware

  An explosion in mobile malware in the first half of 2011 has exponentially increased the chance of an Android device getting infected according to one study. Unfortunately for Android users, another study shows that they are the least aware of security concerns and least prepared to protect their smartphone or tablet from malware.