The root of spam could be you
The biggest single source of the spam that you receive may be you. Personal computers that have been infected with certain viruses and related types of malicious code are responsible for turning the humble home PC and broadband connection into the leading source of spam on the Internet. Depending on who you believe, as much as 80% of all the spam sent on the Internet today comes from these compromised PCs - an estimate at the end of 2003 was 30%, indicating how quickly the problem has grown. So why is the problem Sobig? Part of the problem is that there is an enormous weak spot in the Internet - home PCs. Because of the growing penetration of always-on broadband connections in the home and the inadequacy of the security measures exercised by so many of these PC owners, the natural convergence between writers of malicious code and purveyors of spam has created a wonderful (for spammers, that is) opportunity to exploit this weakness. Threats like the Sobig-F virus (the most prolific virus of 2003), MyDoom, Phatbot, Bagle and Randex are examples of the types of malicious code that are used to turn home PCs into arrays of zombie PCs. Making the issue all the more worrisome is a report in the U.K. press that says organized crime has become involved in selling access to these networks of compromised PCs. So what can be done about it? Perhaps the most crucial, practical and second-best element in solving the problem is the ISP community, which has already taken major steps in trying to combat the problem. If ISPs can prevent compromised PCs from accessing their networks and/or filtering spam that is emanating from the infected machines of their customers, this will go a long way toward reducing the amount of spam that originates from compromised PCs. The best option, of course, would be for home PC users to become more proactive in installing and regularly maintaining anti-virus and firewall software on their machines. However, the likelihood that these users will do so in sufficient numbers is virtually nil, so proactivity on the part of ISPs is the next best line of defense. Part of this proactivity has already included canceling the accounts of some customers - limiting the amount of e-mail that individual accounts can send during a given time period is probably coming as the next step for some ISPs. If you're a home PC user with a broadband connection, the best thing you can do to stop spam is to protect your own PC with adequate defenses like good anti-virus software and a firewall. The future of e-mail may depend on it.
Reproduced from an article published by NetworkWorld Fusion
© NetworkWorld Fusion
The original article can be viewed here:
http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/gwm/2004/0816msg2.html
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