summer of spam surges
Summer of spam surges Pornographic ads dominate in unsolicited e-mails
SARAH STAPLES CanWest News Service
Thursday, August 19, 2004
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For spammers, it's been a summer of love. Two newly issued reports tracking the circulation of unsolicited e-mails say pornographic spam dominated this summer, nearly all of it originating from Internet addresses in North America.
Spammers were a busy lot: just 200 people sent most of the world's bulk e-mail. The U.S. was responsible for producing 85.9 per cent of all unwanted missives last year, with South Korea, China and Canada rounding out the top four spam-producing nations, according to e-mail security firm CipherTrust.
A report by competitor Clearswift noted the amount of adult-oriented e-mail sashaying past filters - most of it advertising the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra - has risen 350 per cent since June.
An identical surge was reported last summer, said Greg Hampton, general manager of Clearswift's North and South American operations.
Despite the seasonal peak, porn's popularity on an annual basis actually limped into single-digits last year. Ads for cheap mortgages, stocks, and fake prescription drugs and software were more popular, collectively representing 69.6 per cent of the total volume of junk e-mail.
Evidence is also mounting that the original kingpins - porn companies and Internet entrepreneurs who realized the potential for a low-cost, unregulated marketing medium - are losing control of the market to underworld operators, Hampton said.
Aside from the black market for fake pharmaceuticals and software, spam offers a stealthy channel for organized criminals to engage in financial scams like "Web-phishing" - tricking victims into giving away credit card or bank account numbers - or "pump and dump" schemes, where e-mail blasts of hot stock "tips" temporarily drive a share price up so the tipper can sell at the inflated price, he said.
Far more dangerous is the recent accumulation of e-mails harbouring viruses, such as Zafi-B, Netsky-P and Netsky-D, within Web links or zipped attachments. Those programs turn ordinary home or small business computers into "zombies" - launch pads for churning out more spam, extorting companies by threatening to unleash mass-mail "denial of service" attacks, or swiping personal financial details.
"Spam has gone to the dark side," Hampton said.
Whatever the motives, unsolicited messages appear to be having the desired effect: one-quarter of Americans who receive spam click through to read it, he said.
Viagra manufacturer Pfizer recently launched a legal campaign against bulk e-mailers the company accuses of flogging counterfeit pills.
According to Pfizer, one-quarter of men receiving Viagra-themed spam believe the pharmaceutical giant itself is sending it.
