Spam news

The FBI has warned that Valentine's Day e-greetings from a stranger could deliver a destructive "Trojan horse" that hijacks computers.

Spammers are creating increasing numbers of accounts on popular social networks, taking advantage of higher levels of trust to deliver spam messages to an audience that has grown suspicious of email.

Microsoft claims that its Malicious Software Removal Toolkit removed almost half a million Storm Worm infections last year.

Researchers have uncovered evidence of a powerful new botnet they've nicknamed Kraken. The discovers estimate that Kraken has infected 400,000 systems, which could make it twice the size of Storm during that botnet's heyday.

The SEC has suspended trading in three stocks that were advertised in YouTube videos by stock promoter QualityStocks.net.

Spammer Robert Soloway could face up to 26 years in jail for his activities, as well as seizure of his assets and a $625,000 fine.

The CAPTCHA that prevents automated signups for Google accounts has reportedly been broken by spammers using paired bots.

Mobile operators are being warned to brace themselves for a global upsurge in mobile messaging abuse. The growth of mobile messaging, reductions in message delivery costs, inherent network vulnerabilities, and new mobile marketing initiatives are converging to create a perfect storm for abuse, according to Cloudmark.

A survey by Sophos reports that Russia is now in second place behind the UK in terms of the volume of spam sent.

The amount of spam sent in January fell compared to December's figure, although computer users have been warned that this could be, "the calm before the storm." A report from SoftScan found that spam fell to 96.8% of all emails scanned during January, down from 97.02% in December.

Europe is now the "king of spam," and is responsible for 44 percent of all spam sent worldwide, according to Symantec.

Emails embedded with fake Britney Spears and Paris Hilton Google search links are part of a new spam botnet that leads users to malware hosted by the notorious Russian Business Network (RBN).

A new botnet spamming male sexual enhancement pill promotions has overtaken the notorious Storm worm botnet as the 'largest single source of the world's spam'. The Mega-D botnet currently accounts for 32 percent of all spam, 11 percent more than the Storm botnet which peaked at 21 percent in September 2007.

A botnet used solely to send junk e-mail promoting penis enlargement products has taken over from the Storm botnet as the most prolific sender of spam, according to security researchers. The botnet Mega-D now accounts for 32 percent of all spam being captured by security firm Marshal.

Member Source Media, one of a very few groups that was targeted under the CAN-SPAM Act in the U.S has agreed to pay $200,000 in penalties and will no longer be allowed to send out