Anti-Virus Companies, Tenacious Spammers

[William Knowles <wk () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: security curmudgeon <jericho () attrition org>

http://www.attrition.org/security/rant/av-spammers.html

Anti-Virus Companies: Tenacious Spammers
Wed Jan 28 04:46:28 EST 2004
Brian Martin [jericho () attrition org]

No one can argue that the spam problem is getting better. Despite
advances in anti-spam technology and legislation against spam,
unwanted junk mail is flowing into our inboxes at an increased rate.
Stock tips, enhancement drugs, Nigerian scams, DVD copy software and
hundreds of other products or services get shoved in our face.

For roughly three years, the Internet has seen worms that spread via
e-mail, often taking addresses out of the infected machine's web
cache, user addressbook or other sources. Some of these worms will
also forge/spoof the "From:" line so the mail appears to be from
someone else, in an attempt to make the mail more 'trusted'. To be
clear..

[..]

Spam is basically defined as "unsolicited junk e-mail". Unsolicited,
as in you did not request the person/company to send you mail. Junk,
as in it contains no valuable content or information. When an
anti-virus program from a remote system mails you out of the blue,
tells you that it blocked a virus YOU sent, tells you that you are
likely infected with a virus and advertises itself, the remote site is
sending you spam. In the case of the latest worm, myself and others
have received more spam from Anti-Virus products than the worm itself!
As you read this, Anti-Virus companies are responsible for products
that are sending out more unwanted mail than the worm itself. The most
damning mail from these products not only purport to "warn you of
infection", but they go so far as to advertise the product to you.
This is unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE, aka "spam") in its purest
form.

[..]




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