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Personalized Spam Rising Sharply, Study Finds
designperfection9 writes "A new study by Cisco Systems Inc. found an alarming increase in the amount of personalized spam, which online identity thieves create using stolen lists of e-mail addresses or other poached data about their victims, such as where they went to school or which bank they use."
From the article:
The latest study was based in part on [Cisco's] ability to monitor 30 percent of all Web and e-mail traffic
I hope the journalist misunderstood something, otherwise all my fears about the NSA just got crunched.
--
iPhone Apps review site looking for bilingual testers
It's a good thing there is anti-spam legislation.
the rise in "security questions" which are essentially weaker passwords. This personalized spam proves getting to much of that info is easy. But now, so often, when I register an account, in addition to a password, there is always a "security password" to null and void that password and get back in easier.
Some of the better services let you choose your own security password, but others only have a short list of really lame ones (1st car, pet, place of birth) which is not secure at all. I make sure to put in a nonsensical random string as an extra security measure. And this just proves it fallible.
Really, at this point, who is falling for this stuff?
Even with personalization, I am getting the same "custom" messages from 15+ "female" names.When you get your forula spam message, does anyone click on them anymore?
Is there still money in spam, other than the money from selling the spam lists and spam network?
Cisco will soon be introducing a product to address this exact problem!
I received one spam email this year which was addressed to me, using my proper first, middle, and last name, as well as my old address back from when I used to live with my parents. The only place I would have volunteered this information online was the Monster job website several years back. I emailed Monster, rather furious at how lax their privacy was. They confirmed that this was their fault but were completely unapologetic.
Fortunately (I think) I never received a second email like this.
Is it really personal spamming? I've seen spam posing as bank notices for a long time. Generally, first you see them (posing to be) from the largest banks, and then over time you start seeing them (posing to be) from regional and local banks as well.
And considering how many people use online banking, it is pretty reasonable for many people to expect to see an email from their bank on occasion.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
How did they know I was looking for penis enlargement pills and cheap viagra?!?!
I use email so rarely these days that any piece of email I get which I did not directly request from the sender I treat as suspicious, no matter who sent it. So far it's been proven to be a perfectly valid policy to follow.
Personalized Spam Rising Sharply
Now I am going to be worried every time I get one of those adverts for penis enlargement
....who told them?
Dear Viagra user,
We have a great new product that goes by the name of Cialis ...
Take Nobody's Word For It.
Poached data, eh?
And here I thought it was simply common knowledge online that I had a small penis. Go figure.
Look at what being active on Slashdot for so, so long has done to your intelligibility!
I'm getting out of here mucho pronto!
Comment removed based on user account deletion
My father just kicked off a flurry of spam from his inbox, and I have been helping him to reach out to his entire address book to stop it from spreading any further. According to him:
Now that they have his email address, one that he does not want to give up, I am afraid he, and everyone on his address list, will now be the target of even more personalized spam. I hope my gmail filter catches most of everything, but I have no doubt in a few months I'll be looking for pen!s enlargement devices, v!agr@ etc.
This post brought to you by your friendly neighborhood MBA.
I received one spam email this year which was addressed to me, using my proper first, middle, and last name, as well as my old address back from when I used to live with my parents. The only place I would have volunteered this information online was the Monster job website several years back. I emailed Monster, rather furious at how lax their privacy was. They confirmed that this was their fault but were completely unapologetic.
Fortunately (I think) I never received a second email like this.
Well, hello there old friend, Robert Daniel Zapmeister, where you been hiding? Everybody here in China concerned, we write you every day, but you no write back. Write back soon, we have special Christmas present for you! Say hello to your Father Thomas Alexander, Mother Mary Jane and sister Elizabeth Dorothy for us, we have present for them too!
Sadly, we have NO telco companies that understand the constitution.
Please do not forget to deport your paycheck from walmart to your Wells Fargo account 777-888888.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
is that it will probably increase as more site are electing to run Windows.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
You can't get much more personal than spam that you send to yourself. I'm apparently doing this every night in my sleep, since I can't ever recall clicking Send when I'm awake....
I hate spam as much as the next person but few if any of us can hardly be called "victims" of spam. Using inflammatory language like "identity thieves" is also a bit much -- if this was real identity theft under discussion the spammers would be doing something more insidious instead of just obnoxious.
I could give less than a shit if someone knows where I went to high school. Hell, there is a ton of info out there about all of us that is in public records that we all can do precisely jack about. Even if they know where I do my banking, yeah, that's pretty bothersome, but I can't get too excited until they find a way to pull money out of my accounts. Which, again, they clearly can't do (and won't be able to do, unless someone falls for a phishing scam or something), otherwise they wouldn't have the need to spam me.
There is a surprisingly simple solution to the SPAM problem but no one likes it. Charge to send e-mail. It doesn't have to be much (heck a penny an e-mail would probably suffice).
Explains all the one-eyed midget pr0n spam i get.
Table-ized A.I.
One sneaked through my Gmail filter last night.
"Break down walls with your massive c0ck," it said. I'm not sure what Facilities would have to say about that, but clearly this spammer knows all about me. :)
There is really no large qualitative or quantitative difference between e-mail spam and targeted ads nowdays. Both account for a lot of traffic, both are usually not appealing nor desired (targeted ads being generally more intrusive). Why does e-mail spam have a so much worse reputation? Because it's limited to a few daring advertisers I suppose (and you can't have that advertising spot!).
"I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you" (Freddie Mercury)
What are the ISPs doing about it, such as blocking relaying of spam from open or unauthorized email relays.
davecb5620@gmail.com
"The real problem is people visiting Web sites through email links, and replying to unsolicited email (from companies they recognize or not)"
..
No, the real problem is the ISPs not blocking spam from open or unauthorized email relays. And the gazillion compromised desktop PCs out there being used in botnets
davecb5620@gmail.com
Someone remind me, what is the difference between spam sent by "identity thieves", and spam sent by corporations that have "legitimately" obtained my info?
99% of the personalized crap is so obvious it doesn't matter.
Even the bank phishing attempts are funny. An email with my name from a bank I never have done business with is a cause for concern?
How about those from a bank I never heard of?
OK folks, how many people had ever heard of The Fifth Third Bank before they saw the phishing email? Raise your hands now.
That's what I thought.
Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
My first car was an XQ3'tt9w, my mother's maiden name is 6P$n(we.
(These being examples, don't even try...)
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Thank you for confirming my worries that your system is not secure.
Sorry, but the ISO27001 is outdated. Why? It's older than a month, so it's outdated. We're talking IT security here.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Years ago I started creating online accounts with false names. Well, not false, just ones I found in the local phone book.
Then my spam filter learned that mails to those phonebook people were unwanted, because nobody I know would mail me something under that name.
Since those "personalized" spam mails are only so much personalized (i.e. name and maybe a few other tidbits), mails that were sent to my phonebook people were used as patterns to weed out other mail that actually went to my name.
The most difficult task for a spamfilter is to discriminate between wanted and unwanted mail. It gets a heck lot easier when the spammer himself gives you a sample of what you want to filter for.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
When are they going to get personalized? I guess I don't have enough information out there, because the past few days I got about 50 messages from Hot Chicks who thought I was "hawt" and want to chat on MSN.
That's 0 for 3 for the most recent spew of spam that's getting through the filters. I'm afraid that they need more help with the personalization still. Or is it that I need more make more of my personal life available to them?
Finally we're seeing one of our fine pure inbreed slashdotters again ! ;)
I thougth we were extinct..
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
If centimeters really count, general dating rule of thumb:
1 centimeter on the Internet is 0.5 centimeter In Real Life!
conclusion: These spammers know the rule of thumb better than you do! ;)
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
It's a rule [general dating rule of thumb] not a word! ;)
Ready to be standardized by any millionaire on the world! Stay tuned!
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..