Excel-erating Spam
A July 23rd ComputerWorld article warns against opening those Excel attachments from unknown senders. No, it's not a virus alert, it's Spam--and not the tasty kind in a can!
As spam filters get better and better, spammers get more and more devious.
First it was the move from misspelling text to avoid keyword filters to images, to avoid any type of content-oriented filtering.
Then spam moved into zip files and I got mail with things like "facts.zip" attached.
In the last couple of months--based solely on the contents of my junkmail box--spam has been hiding in pdf attachments with pseudo-convincing file names like "check-794216998.pdf".
Now CommTouch, an enterprise spam detection software company, tells us the word for spam is Excel. As in Excel (.xls) attachments. The .xls schtick is especially popular with the stock scam spammers, according to CommTouch.
~~~
I have to ask, though. The Internet has been around for a while now. Do people REALLY still click on files sent from unfamiliar names or email addresses?
As spam filters get better and better, spammers get more and more devious.
First it was the move from misspelling text to avoid keyword filters to images, to avoid any type of content-oriented filtering.
Then spam moved into zip files and I got mail with things like "facts.zip" attached.
In the last couple of months--based solely on the contents of my junkmail box--spam has been hiding in pdf attachments with pseudo-convincing file names like "check-794216998.pdf".
Now CommTouch, an enterprise spam detection software company, tells us the word for spam is Excel. As in Excel (.xls) attachments. The .xls schtick is especially popular with the stock scam spammers, according to CommTouch.
~~~
I have to ask, though. The Internet has been around for a while now. Do people REALLY still click on files sent from unfamiliar names or email addresses?
Labels: Spam
posted by Dy at 3:08 PM
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