Anti-Virus / Spam
Our Solution |
Anti Virus & Anti-Spam |
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  Unfortunately most of us are well-acquainted with 'spam' - or to give it its official name, UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email). The name most likely came from a skit by Monty Python set in a cafe where there is only one item on the menu. It is the electronic equivalent of the unwanted junk mail that comes through most people's letterboxes on a daily basis. 
Electronic messaging is a much cheaper method of sending an advertisement than by post - and the more you send the cheaper it gets in comparison. It doesn't matter that many never reach their target. It doesn't matter that most of the rest are binned and never read. Believe it or not, some people do actually buy products advertised using spam mail - enough to make it a viable means of marketing. But because the 'failure rate' is so high spammers need to send hundreds of thousands of emails. With the increasing popularity of the internet, the amount of spam being sent has increased to match. Internet resources such as server processing power and bandwidth are affected, and we waste time sifting through our mailboxes and deleting it. As well as advertising, spam can be used for fraudulent means - obtaining personal information such as bank details. It may be designed to hijack your computer, either to send more spam or distribute viruses. Some spam is purely malicious, a 'joke' on the behalf of a programmer. Other times it will be used to promote sex sites and even illegal activities. 
Spammers usually use what are referred to as 'open relays' and 'open proxies'. These are mail servers or home PCs that do not have adequate protection. Spammers gain control of these (illegally) and then use them to send emails - often without the owners' knowledge. Spammers are constantly looking to exploit any 'back doors' or vulnerabilities in software used on servers and PCs. They use networks of compromised machines, which makes them harder to pinpoint and shut down.  For every method of blocking so far devised, spammers will search for a solution. 'Spoofing' is the practice of forging an email address. Therefore when you block 'fred@website.com' you are not blocking the REAL email address used. Other common techniques include spoofing genuine business' names - banks, PayPal, Yahoo etc. If you've ever received an email advertising v1@gr@ or similar you'll also know that blocking certain words is also no longer effective. Emails might contain graphics or html code to disguise their real content or feature random phrases designed to appear like a real message.  The most common way your email address will fall into a spammer's hands is by you putting it in your webpage or by posting it to a forum or guestbook. Spammers use programs called 'harvesters' to trawl the internet for email addresses. If your address is visible to the harvester you will be added to a list. Spammers also sell email addresses so you could end up on many lists quickly. Viruses can also be used to gain access to a computer and retrieve email distribution lists or lists of contacts. A relatively new method is to fire thousands of emails at a domain name using common names or formats - 'info', 'enquiries' for example, or 'john', 'david' etc. Any emails that don't bounce back to the spammer undelivered most likely indicate a valid email address. Replying to a spam email or clicking an 'unsubscribe' link lets the spammer know that there is a human being at the end of that particular email address. Sometimes even opening an email might send a hidden acknowledgement to the spammer that their email has been read. 
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