Junk e-mailers are spreading viruses that let them send spam anonymously through home computers, according to an e-mail security firm. The company, MessageLabs, operates servers that block spam and viruses for its clients. Its analysis of data shows that mass distributions of junk e-mail are increasingly coming from the Internet addresses of computers that have in the past sent out viruses as e-mail attachments. “There is a high correlation,” said Matt Sergeant, senior anti-spam technologist for the New York-based company. “About 30,000 machines have both open-proxy software and are responsible for sending viruses.” Open proxies, also known as open relays, are computers that can resend e-mail or other network data, erasing the original address information that could identify the source of the traffic. The 30,000 computers represent about 14 percent of the total open relays from which MessageLabs has registered bulk unsolicited e-mail, otherwise known as spam. Full Story
About OODA Analyst
OODA is comprised of a unique team of international experts capable of providing advanced intelligence and analysis, strategy and planning support, risk and threat management, training, decision support, crisis response, and security services to global corporations and governments.