cobraemails

© comedy_nose

From the dawn of email, there has also been spam. And every time email providers seem to figure out a way to block it, spammers find a way around their new spam filters rather quickly. Bill Gates' prediction in 2006 that the end of spam was nigh proved to be somewhat premature, since users of typical email providers four years later are still relying on a good amount of common sense to block certain messages. Images have long been used by spammers as a way around spam filter defenses, but Yahoo has patented a new approach that offers spam detection in images.

Yahoo says that the technology works across any image type, even animated versions. The question is, how well does it work? Yahoo has not revealed specific numbers, but no matter how effective, it is unlikely to be a permanent solution to the problem. Once spammers figure out the metrics Yahoo is using to grade images, which are based on edge pixel distribution patterns, they can just find a way to alter their images to avoid detection.

© Infusionsoft

Overall e-mail spam levels in 2010 increased about 6% from 2009, according to Google data. Google saw a spike in spam levels beginning in the latter half of 2009, and there has also been a surge in the level of e-mails with viruses attached. The size of the spam messages is also getting larger, driven mainly by image spam. Some experts believe that spammers are reusing campaign templates, in a plug- and-play sort of way, to make it faster for them to launch new campaigns.

Spam e-mail topics have not changed from the traditional cheap pharmaceuticals, celebrity gossip, breaking news, and national tragedies. The Haiti earthquake, for example, was used by spammers to spoof e-mails from reputable charities. Some anti-spam tools and strategies may actually made the situation worse. When the security community tried to block and take-down malicious ISPs, spammers adapted quickly with more sophisticated technologies like botnets, which have actually increased their spamming efficiency.

© iStylr

Spam has reduced considerably over the last few years and the days of being bombarded by hundreds of spam emails a day seem to be over. However, spam has been reduced in part because people are more aware and informed about its dangers, and also because of the techniques and software in place to tackle spam. For example, while it is easy to upload files to your website using the cpanel uploader, using FTP software is a much more secure method. It's is also relatively easy once you have done it a couple of times.

Other common practices for keeping you of the hands of spammers include:
• Not opening email mail if you don't know the sender. Some people believe they have to open every email in case they miss something important. Yet, truth be told, if something is so important that you must have the information, the sender will send it again, or, call you and tell you know the information over the phone.

• Not posting your email address and other personal information on chat forums and social network sites. There are software programs that can harvest email addresses from such sites. If you find yourself suddenly getting lots of spam, the culprit source is most likely going to be a recent forum or social networking site where you posted your information.

Practicing internet safety isn't just for kids and teens, it's for everybody who accesses the internet. Be vigilant and keep yourself and your computer free from harm.