[Namron] Save a bundle on Windows XP!
mikea
mikea at mikea.ath.cx
Tue May 18 06:05:48 PDT 2004
On Tue, May 18, 2004 at 07:18:04AM -0500, marc adkins wrote:
> Would someone PLEASE do something about this NOW!!!
There's very nearly nothing to be done unless the folks running the
listserver are willing to use measures that are even more draconian
than those they already use. I run mail-filters for a living, and
can testify that the spammers are getting nastier and more clever as
time goes on.
For at least the last 6 months the big spammers have been contracting
with malware (worm, virus) authors to write programs that not only
infect other machines and spread themselves, bot also report to a
"mother ship" once they've been infected. The infection includes code
to turn each infected machine into a remote-controlled zombie spam-
spewer.
It's really, really ugly, and my day job is about to spend $10,000 on
new hardware to help me fight it more efficiently -- as well as my
salary and benefits.
Advice to those of you who run Windows:
o Put a firewall between your computer and your cablemodem.
o Don't depend on the Windows "firewall" code to protect you;
it's not a "wall" at all, but a sieve.
o Keep your antivirus software up to date, and update it _DAILY_.
o Don't ever open any attachment unless you know the person who sent
it _AND_ that person told you in advance to expect the attachment.
In general, folks, practice safe hex. It's really nasty out there, and
your machine can get infected and start spewing spam without you ever
knowing it. TO give you some idea of what it's like, here's what my
mail filter at work saw coming in over the 8 days from May 9 through
May 16:
Mails spamassassin rejected scanner total mails
Total says 'spam' by ruleset says virus undelivered
May 16 4256 2374 (55.78%) 1303 (30.62%) 291 ( 6.84%) 3968 (93.23%)
May 15 4521 2512 (55.56%) 1386 (30.66%) 251 ( 5.55%) 4149 (91.77%)
May 14 8739 3703 (42.37%) 1839 (21.04%) 377 ( 4.31%) 5919 (67.73%)
May 13 9052 3651 (40.33%) 1819 (20.10%) 539 ( 5.95%) 6009 (66.38%)
May 12 8190 3204 (39.12%) 1758 (21.47%) 493 ( 6.02%) 5455 (66.61%)
May 11 7799 2829 (36.27%) 1820 (23.34%) 505 ( 6.48%) 5154 (66.09%)
May 10 7722 2788 (36.10%) 1652 (21.39%) 540 ( 6.99%) 4980 (64.49%)
May 9 3871 1965 (50.76%) 1202 (31.05%) 249 ( 6.43%) 3416 (88.25%)
--
Mike Andrews / Michael Fenwick Barony of Namron, Ansteorra
mikea at mikea.ath.cx
Tired old music Laurel and disgusted spam-fighter
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