Security Sin 5 – expert opinion

jjones | Guides | 26/11/2008 11:15am
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How do people make money out of spam? Who is sending it?

The latest-generation spam is sent by compromised computers across the globe that form an army of ‘zombies’. There are many of these networks, all of which are controlled by several competing groups of hackers. The networks are rented by spammers to be used as spamdistributing machines. The spammers, in turn, receive their money from the advertisers of penny stocks, replica watches, fake pharmaceuticals, Nigerian scams, pornography and so on.

Can spam ever be eradicated?

Spam can only be eradicated when the cost/benefit analysis of its business model becomes negative or at least balanced. It’s unrealistic to expect that one day every email will have an electronic stamp attached to it, but the cost of the spam business can still be increased via the promotion of international anti-spam laws across all continents. On the other hand, public education campaigns about the dangers of falling victim to online scams will inevitably reduce the benefits received by the spammers.

Apart from being a nuisance, is spam dangerous to my PC?

The main danger of spam is its association with the unlawful and deceptive techniques required to deliver spam to your PC. If a large number of computers have to be compromised in order to deliver spam to you, your PC could be the next victim, as spammers are desperate for as many spam bots under their control as possible. By
compromising your PC they can use it to replicate more spam and thus search for more victims. So yes, spam is certainly an indirect danger to your computer.

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