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Firms face 'triple threat from spam'
IT News |
27/05/2009
Firms now face a triple threat from spammers as would-be hackers become even more sophisticated in their attempts to infect computer systems, according to a new study.
Research by MessageLabs has revealed that cybercriminals are now combining three techniques in an attempt to fool people into visiting malicious sites.
Paul Wood, senior analyst at MessageLabs, explained that hackers are able to bypass Captcha systems - designed to stop automated programmes registering for online services - and create webmail and social networking accounts.
They then use a combination of these systems to send out the more sophisticated scams.
"Today, the bad guys are using the three together as a triple threat to heighten the effectiveness of their spamming," Mr Wood said.
MessageLab's report also found that spam accounted for 90 per cent of all email during May.
Recently, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, warned that IT security could be put at risk through people's social networking websites.
He warned that personal information contained on such pages could help hackers guess passwords and gain access to a firm's systems.
Posted by Jon Aspinell.
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