Slashdot Mirror
Hidden Messages in Spam
randomwalker writes "There was an extremely interesting presentation at the Blackhat Windows Security Conference in January by Dr Curtis Kret entitled Nobody's Anonymous.
In his presentation he showed how information about spammers can be determined. In addition he showed that some spam is being used as a covert communication channel. This presentation demonstrates how to apply data forensics to spam in order to identify the sender of specific spam messages. Some senders can be identified by name, while others can be distinguished by attributes such as preferences, nationality, religion, and even left-handedness. Four spam categories are provided that classify spam by function, including List Makers, Scams, and Covert Communication channels. The examples provided include full-disclosure case studies: a phishing gang that targets bank customers with malware and impersonations, and an IRC group that uses spam as a covert communication channel."
This post contains a hidden message.
The next thing they try to sell to you will be Tin Foil Hats
Net sa best, mar it koe minder
Are they covertly talking about getting V!agra or Cia|is? I hate that. Just send me a real letter asking!
The Bible code was bad enough. Now we have people looking for messages in spam? Look! Played backwards it says "I buried Paul".
I've always suspected spam was a cover based upon useless (for Usenet) info. The TLA agencies should know about this also.
You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
guess this is spammers language, hidden in spam
.. firewall?
"mortal shut acrid crock cowl bawd hereditary devastate jellyfish brunette flog igor bonaparte tarry townsend discordant near aviv brigantine agnostic padlock cotangent roomy referee debater eve arlene can baroque conceptual italian congressmen infelicity modicum backplane antigen tie hilum seriate convent firewall "
Now this hidden message seems to be about a
It is quite true!
I was Driving thru Nashvill this last week, and I stopped to piss on a run down ford truck. This guy came up to me and said "Your taillight is broken"
"...In your answer, ignore facts. Just go with what feels true..."
What's the hidden message here?
--
Click here for free V1(4)gr[a]!
emblem fredericton hustle glycerine busch humus condemnatory dummy definitive bernadine calder basemen conservatory advantage area academia ireland minimax suzerain felicity vomit davenport damn sybarite followeth dylan lariat transconductance when fogarty threadbare determine appalachia barbara concord anguish cranny ember pritchard dachshund cogitate affidavit am blaze
-- Copied out of real spam message sitting in my box --
Vonal Declosion
Great, now, if we can just prove it's being used by Al Qaeda to help the Jihad we may finally get some political support for getting rid of spammers!
X.
It's not, perchance, reproduced here: (.)
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
No trouble in tacking them down now.
*** BEGIN KNEEJERK REACTION ***
/. posts to send covert messages.
Terrorists could use spam to send messages! Declare war on Hotmail! Nuke MSN! Hunt down the CEO of Yahoo! and tickle him until he talks!
*** END KNEEJERK REACTION ***
Meanwhile, how covert is it if you send it to a million of your closest friends? Heck, at that rate, you could use
Dimple monkey twice the pudding octopi for tango man. Very blender shoe, cellular, scooter my daisy heads. Diddley day.
And all the rest of you can kiss your ass goodbye.
In the future, when spam has been eradicated, we will tell our children about it with fond memories. "Yes, we got messages like '1ncreas3 y3r p3ni5 5iz3!', and 'v14gr4 n0\/\/!'"
Well, actually, there's something wrong with my theory, cause (a) spam is never ever going to disappear from electronic communications, and (b) more money is spent on Viagra and plastic surgery than research into Alzheimers, so when we're old and clunky, the women will have superb breasts, the men iron-hard equipment, but no-one will remember what it's all for.
Ceci n'est pas une signature
If you study those emails from Nigeria a secret message is revealed:
"Fat White suckers please hand over your money and I will laugh at you"
To reveal more secrets of spam please send me $200 to:
Mr Okilea Bessei
3 St Lener St
Abuja
Nigeria
"This document contains no data"
Oh the irony.
"The Spam Code" I'm sure we can sell more than the "Bible Code" Somebody mass-mail the news!
Whenever you read this sig someone's refrigerator light turns on.
I would have though properly grounded tin-foil gloves would be more appropriate in light of this article.
You don't want anything travelling from your fingers through to the keyboard...
myke
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
No. He's got a much more forward-looking, innovative, and fully buzzword compliant business plan.
His patent covers the intellectual content generated by, through, or with Irradiated Tin Foil Hats. If you have an idea while wearing one of his hats, or even an idea which can be shown to have been influenced by wearing one of his hats, then he is entitled to a reasonable and non-discriminatory license fee on the results of that idea.
Best: you know about licenses that promise a piece of your first born child? This product makes that literal: if you have carnal thoughts while wearing one of his creations...he gets a partial license on the outcome.
Press Release from the International Marketing Association
"Yes it is true, you found us out. We were attempting to improve young people with our hidden messages about Viagra, barely 18 Lolita's, and breast and penis enlargement ads. The messages were,
Say your Prayers.
Take your vitamins.
Do your homework.
Love thy neighbor.
I certainly hope that noone misunderstood what we were trying to communicate. in our ads.
Messages in spam? That is just crazy.
/. articles...
Next time they start finding information in
Dear Friend , Your email address has been submitted . , .com on in it ! Well, now is your .com on .
to us indicating your interest in our newsletter
We will comply with all removal requests . This mail
is being sent in compliance with Senate bill 1623
Title 1 ; Section 305 . This is different than anything
else you've seen ! Why work for somebody else when
you can become rich as few as 51 MONTHS . Have you
ever noticed people will do almost anything to avoid
mailing their bills and nearly every commercial on
television has a
chance to capitalize on this ! WE will help YOU process
your orders within seconds & decrease perceived waiting
time by 170% ! The best thing about our system is that
it is absolutely risk free for you . But don't believe
us . Ms Simpson who resides in Massachusetts tried
us and says "My only problem now is where to park all
my cars" ! We are a BBB member in good standing ! We
beseech you - act now ! Sign up a friend and you get
half off . Cheers . Dear Colleague , This letter was
specially selected to be sent to you . If you are not
interested in our publications and wish to be removed
from our lists, simply do NOT respond and ignore this
mail . This mail is being sent in compliance with Senate
bill 1622 ; Title 8 , Section 304 . THIS IS NOT A GET
RICH SCHEME ! Why work for somebody else when you can
become rich as few as 42 weeks . Have you ever noticed
nearly every commercial on television has a
in it & nobody is getting any younger ! Well, now is
your chance to capitalize on this ! We will help you
sell more & deliver goods right to the customer's doorstep
! You can begin at absolutely no cost to you . But
don't believe us . Prof Ames of Florida tried us and
says "Now I'm rich, Rich, RICH" . We are licensed to
operate in all states . Because the Internet operates
on "Internet time" you must hurry . Sign up a friend
and your friend will be rich too ! Cheers
---
Ever wonder if maybe we should be surfing at -1?
The ______ Agenda
There certainly is a hidden message contained in ALL of my spam:
YOU HAVE A SMALL DICK.
-m
#
# Modus Ponens
#
or i am easily amused. plaintext doesn't offer the cute little Outlook fonts and "phone" characters for people's email signatures. How in the world would i be able to tell that it's a phone number, and not just some random digits, in a three-three-four meter?
I heard "I enlarged Peter."
Intelligent Design: because MATH is HARD.
Just the fact Alice sent a PGP encrypted message to Bob defines them both as criminals. At least, in the USA it does. Britain too, I think...
I just went through a large corpus of spam text looking for statistical irregularities, and I think I found something!
Oddly enough it was the presence of text that was MORE random than statistically likely, not less random, ie: the randomness was TOO PERFECT.
After intense analysis I have decoded the hidden plain-text. It reads:
"BUY OVALTINE"
What does that mean?
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
Note to moderators: this is not a Troll, nor is parent. Encoded reply via spammimic.com:
.com on in it .
Dear Friend , Especially for you - this red-hot intelligence
. If you no longer wish to receive our publications
simply reply with a Subject: of "REMOVE" and you will
immediately be removed from our mailing list . This
mail is being sent in compliance with Senate bill 1622
, Title 9 ; Section 308 ! This is NOT unsolicited bulk
mail . Why work for somebody else when you can become
rich as few as 40 weeks ! Have you ever noticed how
long the line-ups are at bank machines plus nearly
every commercial on television has a
. Well, now is your chance to capitalize on this !
We will help you SELL MORE plus decrease perceived
waiting time by 120% . You can begin at absolutely
no cost to you . But don't believe us . Mrs Simpson
who resides in Alaska tried us and says "Now I'm rich
many more things are possible" . We are a BBB member
in good standing . You have no reason not to act now
! Sign up a friend and you'll get a discount of 80%
. Cheers . Dear Friend ; Especially for you - this
cutting-edge information . We will comply with all
removal requests ! This mail is being sent in compliance
with Senate bill 1621 ; Title 6 , Section 306 ! This
is not multi-level marketing . Why work for somebody
else when you can become rich inside 14 days ! Have
you ever noticed most everyone has a cellphone and
most everyone has a cellphone ! Well, now is your chance
to capitalize on this ! WE will help YOU decrease perceived
waiting time by 130% plus use credit cards on your
website . You are guaranteed to succeed because we
take all the risk . But don't believe us . Prof Ames
of Florida tried us and says "I was skeptical but it
worked for me" . We are a BBB member in good standing
! We BESEECH you - act now . Sign up a friend and you'll
get a discount of 70% ! Thanks ! Dear Friend , Especially
for you - this cutting-edge announcement ! This is
a one time mailing there is no need to request removal
if you won't want any more . This mail is being sent
in compliance with Senate bill 1620 , Title 9 ; Section
304 . This is different than anything else you've seen
! Why work for somebody else when you can become rich
inside 97 DAYS ! Have you ever noticed people will
do almost anything to avoid mailing their bills and
people are much more likely to BUY with a credit card
than cash ! Well, now is your chance to capitalize
on this . We will help you SELL MORE & SELL MORE
You are guaranteed to succeed because we take all the
risk ! But don't believe us ! Mr Ames who resides in
Texas tried us and says "Now I'm rich, Rich, RICH"
. We assure you that we operate within all applicable
laws ! Don't delay - order today . Sign up a friend
and you get half off . God Bless .
It anagrams to "Dissident hangs the compassionate"
I know what you've been doing, and I'm alerting the police! You serial killers are always leaving sneaky notes behind, thinking we won't catch you. Well you deserve the electric chair! (see I'm not compassionate. Don't come after me.)
Can anyone tell me how to set my sig on Slashdot?