Email Security

Two years ago, a new and sophisticated spam started to spread in the Internet. This spam is called the “Piggyback spam.” This spam takes the form of a regular spam email. Similar to other forms of spam, this contains advertisement of products, but it also contains something else more dangerous. When you open the spam email, there are links to external sites. However,  the links actually contain downloadable files. This files contain malware such as Trojan and Keylogger. The Piggyback spam also has the capacity to install spambot to your computer. The botnet that is responsible for this spam can actually disable your anti-virus software and remove rival spambots from your system.

Avoiding spams

Checking your computer regularly for botnet infection is among the best move that you can do to fight off different types of spams such as the Piggyback spam. There are filtering spam tools that you could use. One type of spam filtering tool is the “integrated” one. This tool is a common feature of email software. The integrated filtering tool gives you the option to mark spam emails for retention or deletion. You can also choose to block future messages that would be coming from a specific sender.

Then there is also the online spam filtering tool. This can be of two types, one for professional use and the other for home use. In the former, the spam is deleted from the mail server, so the spam does not reach the recipient anymore. The latter requires the authentication of the sender; if the spam mail is not authenticated, the email will fail to reach the intended recipient.

As Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, there is a group that takes advantage of this upcoming celebration to spread spam. According to reports, messages containing subject lines such as”I love being in love with you” and “I belong to you” started to invade various mailboxes last January 22. The spam email lured victims through its interesting subject lines. The spam email contains a link to a certain site displaying 12 hearts. When the victim clicks one of these hearts, a malware instantly infects the computer turning it into a an “electronic zombie.” Another interesting fact is that the group who is responsible for this malware is the same group responsible for the Obama spam that spread a few weeks ago.

Effect of this spam attack

Upon clicking one of the hearts, a malware is released and your computer’s processing capabilities will be significantly affected. When this happens, your computer will be accessible to hackers, so viruses, worms and other types of malicious software could disrupt your computer system. Computer hackers and those who want to perform malicious tasks online can then use your computer for their cyber crime so that they cannot be easily detected by the authority. They can also access your private information without you suspecting it.

How to avoid spam attack

The best thing that you can do is to prevent yourself from being victimized by spammers. To do this, you have to be very careful when opening emails from unknown sources. It is also helpful that you enable the anti-spam feature of your program. Another option is to buy a software that would protect your computer from malware and spyware.

There’s money to be earned in running a forum. However, keep in mind that your discussion site can give Internet users an unpleasant impression if it is filled with links to various external sites that are not related to the topics in your forum. They can even be turned off by your focum if there are links leading to sites with pornographic contents.

What is a forum spam

Similar to an email spam, a forum spam contains massages and links that are unwanted or that contain spyware and malware, which could potentially damage your computer or network system. Unlike the email spam, however, a forum spam is posted in a group discussion site. One of the main purposes of forum spam is to lure the Internet users to certain commercial sites to generate more traffic in the said sites. Usually, a forum spam is posted by a spambot or an automated program that is used to send spam. To evade spam filters, some forum spams have texts, though the content is unrelated to the forum.

How can you combat forum spam

Spam prevention can be costly and can actually require a lot of effort on the part of forum administrators. There are actually various ways to combat forum spams. One is through “flood control.” In this way, spambots are prevented from flooding unsolicited massages and links to the forum by making the users wait for intervals before they can post text  in the forum. Another method is by using the CAPTCHA. This is a sort of visual test that would ensure that spambots cannot register automatically. The moderator can also block posts that contains “blacklisted” words from entering the forum.

Spyware is a computer software that gathers information from the user through the user’s Internet connection. Most of the time, the user is not aware that his or her private information is being accessed. Through a spyware, data such as your Internet habits and the list of sites you visited can be seen by other people without your knowledge. If a spyware has been unintentionally installed in your computer, it can monitor your activity and send the information to someone else.

The most dangerous thing about a spyware is that it can actually access your credit card numbers, passwords, and emails. Spyware can also lead to the crashing of your computer because the transmission of the data by spyware consumes a lot of bandwidth and Internet resources.

Why spyware is used

Spyware is usually used for commercial purposes. One of the strategies is the accession of your email address and sending pop-up advertisement to your account. Other ways include accessing your financial information stored in the Internet’s database.

How to avoid spyware

Because prevention is always better than cure, you ought to do certain things to make sure that you lower the risk of having your computer infected by spyware. Some people say that one of the things that you should do is to use Firefox or Opera as web browsers. Another thing you have to do to get rid of the spyware threat by installing anti-spyware software, you you can download it for free or buy it online.

In August 2008, a TV channel in India received an email from this so-called Indian Mujahideen group.  According to the Intelligence Bureau, the case involving this Indian Mujahideen was just a ploy orchestrated by the the outfits banned in India to mislead the investigators. Thorough investigations were conducted to identify the originator of the email. We can see in this case that, though the Internet is tool that can make our work efficient, it can also be used as a tool to spread fear among people.

Is a centralized database the solution

In UK, there is a new email law that could ensure that the Internet can only be used for protecting people and not for spreading terror. This new email law requires the UK’s Internet providers to record all the emails that are being sent and received by every individual in UK. Through this law, events such as that involving the Indian Mujahideen group can be resolved easily. For the proponents of this law, creating a central database could be one of the best ways for the government to safeguard its people.

What are the drawbacks of a centralized database

One of the most important reasons a centralized database is being criticized by many is that they think that this system is a violation of the people’s civil liberties. Aside from this, the new email law in UK claims to safeguard the security of the people from terrorists, yet it does not provide anyone that could safeguard the people from the government itself.