Spam fighters infiltrate spam clubs

Found on The Register on Friday, 14 May 2004
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Online spammer forums like the Pro Bulk Club the Bulk Club and bulkmails.org have been gatecrashed by activists from organisations like Spamhaus. Steve Linford of Spamhaus said spammers know this already but they don't know who amongst their number is working for the other side.

Instead of using open mail relays or unscrupulous hosts (so-called 'bullet-proof' hosting - in reality ISPs in the third world who pull the plug on spammers when enough complaints are received by their upstream provider), spammers are using compromised machines to get their junk mail out. Viruses such as My-Doom and Bagle surrender the control of infected machines to hackers. This expanding network of infected, zombie machines can be used either for spam distribution or as platforms for DDoS attacks, such as those that many online bookies have suffered in recent months.

No doubt that spamming is a profitable business; and it will be as long as there are enough idiots who fall for the spam and lots of uneducated people who have no idea how to secure their machines. If users complain about worms which keep on shutting down their computers, they should remember that the main reason for getting infected is their insecurity. Besides, better a crashed XP than another spamhost.