U.S. Remains the King of Spam

It would appear that every nation on earth is fighting spam... except the United States, where relayed spam continues to grow quarterly.

These findings come from a recent report by international IT security firm, Sophos.

28% of all of the world's spam is relayed from US computers. That's five times the level of any other country on the globe.

By contrast, Canada, which has had an anti-spam action plan since 2004, has reduced it's contribution to the problem to a miniscule 0.8%.

For more information from the report, click here.

MP3 Spam

From the Sophos' security reports...

In yet another pump-and-dump spam campaign designed to inflate share prices of a little-known company, spammers have targeted MP3 music files as the messenger. Files posing as tracks from stars like Elvis, Fergie and Carrie Underwood in reality contain a monotone voice encouraging people to buy shares. While spammers still have a lot to learn, organizations would benefit from blocking all MP3s in email as a precaution. Keep reading to learn more about the latest trends in spam and how to protect your business.

http://www.sophos.com/news/2007/10/stock-mp3.html

Threat report

SC Magazine's Threat Report this month includes...

• Canada plans to spend $3 million on a study of cybercrime. An initial $100,000 goes to the Canadian Association of Police Boards, who will examine the extent of online criminal activity and the feasibility of building a center to deter cybercrime.
• Jacob Vincent Gree-Bressler of Tucson, AZ was sentenced to 84 months in prison for using stolen credit cards.
• Afghanistan soldiers are now prohibited from using cell phones after Taliban Extremists used mobile hacking software to tap into British soldiers' mobile phones.

Find more details at the SC Magazine web site.