Commtouch® (Nasdaq: CTCHD) released its 2007 Q4 Email Threats Trend Report, based on the automated analysis of billions of email messages weekly. The report examines recent trends in email threats such as the growth and development of zombie botnets that disseminate a range of Internet threats including spam, malware, phishing and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
Highlights of the report include:
• Global spam levels remain high, reaching 96% of all email at its peak during the quarter
• Blended threats combined email, malware and malicious websites
• “Storm Worm” botnet caused numerous outbreaks throughout the quarter, including several new spam formats and blended-threat emails
• 70% of spam messages at the end of Q4 featured sexual enhancement products
Storm Botnet: Massive, Cunning and Aggressive
Throughout Q4 the so-called “Storm Worm” botnet was responsible for numerous outbreaks, including MP3 spam, in which an audio stock pump-and-dump message was distributed as an .mp3 email attachment. During outbreak peaks, MP3 spam accounted for 7-10% of all global spam.
Like all botnets, Storm is made up of a massive global network of PCs infected with malware that gives the botmaster remote control. Though end-users are not likely to notice they have been infected, the botmaster can use the hijacked computing power to generate and send spam and malware, host malicious websites, and even perform DDoS attacks. Traditional anti-spam, anti-virus and IP blocking technologies are unable to keep pace with the dynamic activation and deactivation of the endless number of dynamic IPs.
Commtouch 2007 Q4 Email Threats Trend Report
A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed today in Detroit charging 11 persons, including Alan M. Ralsky, his son-in-law Scott K. Bradley, and Judy M. Devenow, of Michigan, and eight others, including a dual national of Canada and Hong Kong and individuals from Russia, California, and Arizona, in a wide-ranging international fraud scheme involving the illegal use of bulk commercial e-mailing, or "spamming."
In a new report, the Federal Trade Commission staff describes findings from its July 2007 workshop, “Spam Summit: The Next Generation of Threats and Solutions” and proposes follow-up action steps that stakeholders can adopt to mitigate the harmful effects of malicious spam and phishing. In addition to proposing action steps for stakeholders, the report provides an overview of the agency’s decade-long role in protecting consumers from the threats of fraudulent spam and phishing. The report also announces results from staff’s 2007 Harvesting and Filtering Study, which suggest that Internet service providers’ spam filters continue to serve an integral role in reducing the amount of spam that reaches consumers’ in-boxes.