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Article from Postini
Spam
Attack Update
Spam volumes set an
all-time high in June, when volumes grew 51% since January 2007. In
July, spam volumes dropped slightly. However, over 91% of all incoming email
remains junk messages. Spammers are launching these massive attacks
through the use of botnets — networks
of compromised computers infected by hackers.
We also observed a
significant jump in our blocking of messages with attached PDF and
Excel files containing the spam "pitch." This is the result
of a new tactic, in which spammers embed spam content in legitimate
file types, such as .zip files and Excel files.
Image spam
decreased from about 35% to about 25% of all junk messages. In terms of
the total amount of spam, the use of PDF and Excel files has somewhat
offset the decrease in image spam.
Virus
Threat Update
July was the most
active month for virus attacks in over two years. During a major attack
from July 2-9, Postini tracked and blocked
over 123 million virus-infected messages for customers. The volume of
virus-infected messages was over three times larger than any attack
over the past two years.
On July 16th, a new
attack began that was still underway at the time of this report. Over half
a billion virus-infected messages have been sent during the course of
this attack, making it over 14 times larger than any attack in the past
two years.
These virus attacks
are mutations of the "Storm" malware
code family, which harvests computers into botnets.
The "blended-attack" messages contain URLs to hacked websites
that deliver the malware to the target
computer. If a user clicks the link, this can secretly install a
generic software downloader that allows hackers to download more malware to the user's system.
We see the
hacker/spammer community rapidly evolving and specializing in
delivering virus threats through email; botnets
have become a commoditized resource that is available for rent. Botnets send virus-infected messages, which in turn
harvest more computers into the spammer network. Botnets
are largely responsible for constantly increasing spam volumes, image
spam, and now PDF spam.
Download
full article
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Account
Exec
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Area
Code
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David
Teuber
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213,
323, 661, 805, 818
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Mark
Ledesma
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310,
562, 626, 909, 951
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Angie
Moskalenko
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619,
714, 760, 858, 949
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