16 June 2005
Over 100,000 Sources of Spam and Other Malware Detected in Any Given Hour
Mail-Filters.com, Inc. is theglobal leader in OEM anti-spam solutions providing technology for its OEMpartners filtering billions of messages a day in more than 100 countries and30 languages. Mail-Filters noted that last week the number of unique, active,significant spam sources averaged 103,967 hourly. "It must be stressed, however, that these sources are just the tip of theiceberg," says Ben Westbrook, CEO of Mail-Filters. "The number of machinesdetected sending any spam is significantly larger. Given that the typicalnumber of spammers in any given hour is in the hundreds, we can say that thevast majority of these machines are hijacked. Not only that, this is a onehour snapshot of spammers sending messages to our partners' customers. You caneasily see that millions of computers continue to be hijacked for the purposeof sending spam and phish." Mr. Westbrook continued: "The real problem isthat the IP addresses of these innocent hijacked computers get on blacklistsused by some spam filters. Any legitimate mail from these addresses runs therisk of being stopped, driving up those filters' false positive rates andpreventing legitimate mail from being delivered to a business associate,customer, or partner." Mail-Filters described in February 2005 the problem with Trojans and theimpact they are having in the email space. Mail-Filters technology is one ofthe few anti-spam technologies available in the industry that is not impactedby these Trojans. Nevertheless, since most spam filters are fooled by thistactic, spammers and phishers continued to find more effective ways ofhijacking computers for the purpose of sending spam and phishing messages.This latest data shows the practice is still going strong. Mail-Filters' anti-spam filtering technology catches both spam andphishing messages. It combines two proprietary weapons: the Bullet SignatureDatabase created and maintained by both technology and human editors, and theSTAR Engine that detects spammer tricks. This approach allows it to catch newtypes of spam, including phishing, embedded content, HTML, and foreignlanguage spam. The result is a catch rate of more than 95% with less than 1 in1,000,000 false positives.
Do You Know What's in Your Trash?
A hearty welcome to all the spam fighting filters and programs created to rescue us from the deluge of unwanted e-mail! There is practically a “solution” for everything. But as with most online “solutions” filters and programs are only tools that users need to make some effort to use properly to reap the benefits.
You have to learn how to use these programs to your advantage or you can experience the unexpected downside. How can there be a downside when we’re talking less spam you say? Unfortunately, all too often legitimate and expected e-mails are being eaten by filters and are ending up in the trash!
Twice this week I received terse e-mails from new clients awaiting my response on certain issues. Because they were new to working with me, they didn’t know that I usually respond within an hour to most e-mail. My responses were not returned as “undeliverable” so what happened? Where are they? In both instances I called my clients only to find my messages had inadvertently landed in their junk or trash folder because of their ISP’s filtering systems.
When communicating with clients and in my day-to-day communications, I do not go to extremes to alter certain words that may trip filters in my day to day communications. With folks I know, that shouldn’t be an issue because they are supposedly expecting my e-mail. In addition, I always instruct new clients and subscribers to add me to their address book, approved or white list.
Plus as I am sure you’ll agree, you’ve seen all those funky ways of spelling certain words with characters or spaces that are unnatural. I believe they ruin the flow of your message because the reader can’t help but take pause to notice.
Before you send off a terse e-mail complaining or assuming no response, be sure you have covered the following:
1) When you know you will be communicating with a specific person on a regular basis, make sure you add them to your approved list or address book as soon as possible. Many onliners now use Web based e-mail such as Yahoo! and MSN that allow them to control who they receive e-mail from. Just as the majority of ISPs now give you the ability to filter e-mail based on level of spamminess or by adding e-mail addresses to your list so they can get through. Be sure to use these tools to avoid trashing wanted e-mail.
2) Same goes for Web sites or eZines you sign up for. Add their dot com to your list as soon as you sign up. Most legitimate eZines use a double-opt in subscription process that requires you respond or click on a link within an e-mail from them before you get formally added to their list. If you don’t get that e-mail to respond to it—you will not be added.
3) Before you empty your trash or junk folder—go through the trash! Take a quick peak and look at the Sender: and Subject: fields to see if names are familiar or for a topic that is expected. Otherwise you risk wanted e-mail going out with the trash!
Three simple little steps can help ensure the e-mail you do want lands in your inbox. The e-mail you are waiting for may have already arrived!
You have to learn how to use these programs to your advantage or you can experience the unexpected downside. How can there be a downside when we’re talking less spam you say? Unfortunately, all too often legitimate and expected e-mails are being eaten by filters and are ending up in the trash!
Twice this week I received terse e-mails from new clients awaiting my response on certain issues. Because they were new to working with me, they didn’t know that I usually respond within an hour to most e-mail. My responses were not returned as “undeliverable” so what happened? Where are they? In both instances I called my clients only to find my messages had inadvertently landed in their junk or trash folder because of their ISP’s filtering systems.
When communicating with clients and in my day-to-day communications, I do not go to extremes to alter certain words that may trip filters in my day to day communications. With folks I know, that shouldn’t be an issue because they are supposedly expecting my e-mail. In addition, I always instruct new clients and subscribers to add me to their address book, approved or white list.
Plus as I am sure you’ll agree, you’ve seen all those funky ways of spelling certain words with characters or spaces that are unnatural. I believe they ruin the flow of your message because the reader can’t help but take pause to notice.
Before you send off a terse e-mail complaining or assuming no response, be sure you have covered the following:
1) When you know you will be communicating with a specific person on a regular basis, make sure you add them to your approved list or address book as soon as possible. Many onliners now use Web based e-mail such as Yahoo! and MSN that allow them to control who they receive e-mail from. Just as the majority of ISPs now give you the ability to filter e-mail based on level of spamminess or by adding e-mail addresses to your list so they can get through. Be sure to use these tools to avoid trashing wanted e-mail.
2) Same goes for Web sites or eZines you sign up for. Add their dot com to your list as soon as you sign up. Most legitimate eZines use a double-opt in subscription process that requires you respond or click on a link within an e-mail from them before you get formally added to their list. If you don’t get that e-mail to respond to it—you will not be added.
3) Before you empty your trash or junk folder—go through the trash! Take a quick peak and look at the Sender: and Subject: fields to see if names are familiar or for a topic that is expected. Otherwise you risk wanted e-mail going out with the trash!
Three simple little steps can help ensure the e-mail you do want lands in your inbox. The e-mail you are waiting for may have already arrived!
Intergenix Releases Spam Control Module
Intergenix LLC, a new jersey based technology solutions provider, announced this week that it has released the spam control module for use with the *nix version of the PortGenix internal monitoring suite.The spam control module allows server owners to monitor, limit, and stop spammers from abusing web based applications running on the target servers.
“Waiting to react after a spam incident is highly inefficient. With the spam control module and the PortGenix internal monitoring suite, you can not only trace the problem and the culprit, but you can now automatically stop these problems.” said Jacques Manukyan, CEO of Intergenix LLC.One of the myriad of issues facing server owners is that of spammers abusing and exploiting web application weaknesses to send thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands of emails through the victims server.
“Ultimately, it’s the server owner who is blamed for the spam being sent out, and it is the owner of the server who must face the consequences of allowing spam through their servers.” said Manukyan.The spam control module can limit the amount of emails being sent from web based applications. Server owners can specify filters to restrict and limit outgoing emails from web applications. Restrictions can be customized to meet
“Waiting to react after a spam incident is highly inefficient. With the spam control module and the PortGenix internal monitoring suite, you can not only trace the problem and the culprit, but you can now automatically stop these problems.” said Jacques Manukyan, CEO of Intergenix LLC.One of the myriad of issues facing server owners is that of spammers abusing and exploiting web application weaknesses to send thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands of emails through the victims server.
“Ultimately, it’s the server owner who is blamed for the spam being sent out, and it is the owner of the server who must face the consequences of allowing spam through their servers.” said Manukyan.The spam control module can limit the amount of emails being sent from web based applications. Server owners can specify filters to restrict and limit outgoing emails from web applications. Restrictions can be customized to meet
Firefox is PC World's Product of the Year
Mozilla Firefox 1.0 web browser took the top spot on PC World's ranking of 100 best products for 2005.
Mozilla Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving choice and promoting innovation on the Internet, announced today that PC World named Firefox its "Best Product of 2005".
Firefox is an open source web browser and according to the organization, its customizable features and ease-of-use has attracted many users. It also features a tabbed interface, better navigation, built-in Google taskbar, a pop-up blocker and Autodownload. These have added up to increase the browser's market share consistently in the past few months. According to WebSideStory, the U.S. browser usage of Firefox grew from 3.03 percent to 4.06 percent last december.
Mozilla's email client, Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0, also ranked high on PC World's list of top 100 product. Thunderbird's email sorting functions, spam filters and better performance than OutLook were cited as reasons for this.
Mozilla Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving choice and promoting innovation on the Internet, announced today that PC World named Firefox its "Best Product of 2005".
Firefox is an open source web browser and according to the organization, its customizable features and ease-of-use has attracted many users. It also features a tabbed interface, better navigation, built-in Google taskbar, a pop-up blocker and Autodownload. These have added up to increase the browser's market share consistently in the past few months. According to WebSideStory, the U.S. browser usage of Firefox grew from 3.03 percent to 4.06 percent last december.
Mozilla's email client, Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0, also ranked high on PC World's list of top 100 product. Thunderbird's email sorting functions, spam filters and better performance than OutLook were cited as reasons for this.
Tips on emailing with the outlook express
The following are some tips on using features available on outlook express. Multiple Recipients If you wish to send the same e-mail to more than one recipient — just type the addresses of the receivers of the mail in the To: field. Separate each address with a comma or semicolon.
Mask E-mail Addresses In some situations, you may want to send the same e-mail to, say, two recipients but you don’t want the recipients to know who else received the mail. Use the Bcc field. Bcc is the acronym for Blind Carbon Copy. Type the e-mail address of the first vendor in the To: field and that of the second in the Bcc: field. Avoid Typing addresses Do you wish to recall e-mail addresses — particularly the long ones — without remembering them? One way to accomplish this is to use the nick name approach. Give a nickname for any e-mail address in the Address Book. Here is an example: Say you want to send mail to a person who is a mathematics professor and whose address is johndoe@mathsdept.sciences.univ.edu. Create an entry in the Address Book for this recipient. In the Nickname field, type, for example, math. To send a mail, you just need to type math in the To: field. Outlook Express automatically substitutes the entry with the actual e-mail address. Insert Signature Do you type your name, title, and contact information (address, telephone, fax, etc.) at the end of the message? If you send many mail daily, this task can be laborious and prone for typos. Here's one way to perform the task with ease: Insert a signature file at the end of the message. The file is a text file that contains your contact info. You just have to create it once and save it with a .txt extension (e.g., sig.txt). Then, insert the same — using the Insert option — in as many messages as you wish. Note that you can have different signature files for a different set of messages and e-mail accounts. Create Filters Are you tired of receiving unsolicited or spam mail? Filters, to an extent, can help you to tackle such mail. You can use the Message Rules option and create several filters to filter unwanted mail. Each filter is comprised of a rule. A rule has one or more conditions and actions. Whereas a condition specifies the criterion to filter the e-mail, an action indicates how to deal with the filtered e-mail. Here's an example of a rule: (a) Condition - Where the Subject line contains specific words e.g., Lose Weight in 21 Days. (b) Action - Delete if from server. Compose Offline A nice thing about e-mail is that you don't have to compose the message when you're connected to the Internet. To use this feature, start OE and specify that you want to work offline. Compose the message. Then, click Send Later from the File menu. Your message will be stored in the Outbox folder. Any time afterwards, to send the mail, connect to the Internet and use either the Send and Receive or Send All option from the Tools menu. In case your message is incomplete, you can save it in the Drafts folder. After you've typed the (partial) message, click File > Save. An alert box displays a message that your mail has been saved in the Drafts folder.
Mask E-mail Addresses In some situations, you may want to send the same e-mail to, say, two recipients but you don’t want the recipients to know who else received the mail. Use the Bcc field. Bcc is the acronym for Blind Carbon Copy. Type the e-mail address of the first vendor in the To: field and that of the second in the Bcc: field. Avoid Typing addresses Do you wish to recall e-mail addresses — particularly the long ones — without remembering them? One way to accomplish this is to use the nick name approach. Give a nickname for any e-mail address in the Address Book. Here is an example: Say you want to send mail to a person who is a mathematics professor and whose address is johndoe@mathsdept.sciences.univ.edu. Create an entry in the Address Book for this recipient. In the Nickname field, type, for example, math. To send a mail, you just need to type math in the To: field. Outlook Express automatically substitutes the entry with the actual e-mail address. Insert Signature Do you type your name, title, and contact information (address, telephone, fax, etc.) at the end of the message? If you send many mail daily, this task can be laborious and prone for typos. Here's one way to perform the task with ease: Insert a signature file at the end of the message. The file is a text file that contains your contact info. You just have to create it once and save it with a .txt extension (e.g., sig.txt). Then, insert the same — using the Insert option — in as many messages as you wish. Note that you can have different signature files for a different set of messages and e-mail accounts. Create Filters Are you tired of receiving unsolicited or spam mail? Filters, to an extent, can help you to tackle such mail. You can use the Message Rules option and create several filters to filter unwanted mail. Each filter is comprised of a rule. A rule has one or more conditions and actions. Whereas a condition specifies the criterion to filter the e-mail, an action indicates how to deal with the filtered e-mail. Here's an example of a rule: (a) Condition - Where the Subject line contains specific words e.g., Lose Weight in 21 Days. (b) Action - Delete if from server. Compose Offline A nice thing about e-mail is that you don't have to compose the message when you're connected to the Internet. To use this feature, start OE and specify that you want to work offline. Compose the message. Then, click Send Later from the File menu. Your message will be stored in the Outbox folder. Any time afterwards, to send the mail, connect to the Internet and use either the Send and Receive or Send All option from the Tools menu. In case your message is incomplete, you can save it in the Drafts folder. After you've typed the (partial) message, click File > Save. An alert box displays a message that your mail has been saved in the Drafts folder.
