Linux systems are five times more likely than Windows machines to be used to send spam, according to a Symantec report that highlights the part that Linux plays in the growing spam problem.
A hacker faces 60 years in prison and a $1.75m fine after pleading guilty to infecting hundreds of thousands of computers with malware in order to steal money from Paypal accounts. John Schiefer, 26, admitted that he and some associates developed malware that allowed them to create botnet armies of as many as 250,000 computers. Schiefer was able to collect information sent from the infected computers, including usernames and passwords for Paypal accounts. He and his associates were then able to make purchases using the Paypal accounts. They also shared the password information with others.
Emails containing malicious PDF files have been putting computers at risk since Friday, Finnish security software firm F-Secure said on Saturday. “The emails, sent in bulk, looked like credit-card statements, and contained an attachment called ‘report.pdf’,” chief research officer Mikko Hypponen said in a statement.
The Storm Worm’s days may be numbered, according to a University of California researcher. A network security analyst at UC San Diego, Brandon Enright, has been tracking Storm since July and said that, despite the intense publicity that the network of infected computers has received, it’s actually been shrinking steadily and is presently a shadow of its former self. On Saturday, he presented his findings at the Toorcon hacker conference in San Diego.
rafty spammers overnight launched a new wave of pump-and-dump scams, this time delivering junk mail that includes audio attachments encouraging recipients to buy a penny stock. Experts today said the new MP3 spam tactic is creative, but it seems to be a natural progression following runs of image, PDF and Excel junk mail earlier this year.
PayPal and eBay are easily the most common brands used in online scams, a PhishTank report reveals.
The report â based on the end-user submission of almost 300,000 emails believed to be phishes â shows PayPal and its parent eBay served as the lure in 63,437 verified phishing emails.
Spam in the form of HTML email is still rampant, while PDF, image and e-card spam is on the decline, a new report finds. According to Symantec’s latest monthly spam report, spam accounted for 70 percent of all email in September, which is one percent higher than the month before.
A feature on YouTube that enables users to share videos with friends is being exploited by spammers to deliver junk mail, security experts have warned. “YouTube users have a facility where they can invite their friends to view videos that they are looking at or have posted,” said Bradley Anstis, director of product management of email security firm Marshal. “This effectively allows them to email to any address from their YouTube account. This is the functionality that the spammers are exploiting.”
Spammers are using YouTube’s servers to send massive quantities of unsolicited email, according to security firm Marshal.
Hackers are using the lure of gift cards in spamming attacks, according to a Symantec report.
The junk messages claimed to âprovideâ gift cards for a range of products and services, including History Channel magazine subscriptions and Dominos Pizza, if the recipient completes a survey, the security company said.