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Examining the Sobig Worm's Role in the Rise of Spam in 2003

The Sobig worm is to thank for a massive increase in spam e-mail during 2003 and the problem of unsolicited commercial junk e-mail is set to get worse in 2004.. . .. The Sobig worm is to thank for a massive increase in spam e-mail during 2003 and the problem of unsolicited commercial junk e-mail is set to get worse in 2004. That is according to UK-based e-mail filtering company MessageLabs, which claims that there was a 77 percent increase in global spam volumes this year. The firm said that in May, the global spam to e-mail ratio exceeded 50 percent for the first time, with the average ratio for the year being one spam for every 2.5 normal e-mails received. This compared to 1 in 11 during 2002. But possibly the most worrying statistic in the report was a claim that more than two-thirds of all spam was sent through hijacked computers, thanks in part to malware like the Sobig worm which represents a new breed of cyber-pest that blends spamming with viruses. "Sobig.F, the pre-eminent example of this convergence, sought not only to infect a machine and propagate further through mass mailing techniques, but to compromise systems by exploiting open proxies," commented Mark Sunner, chief technology officer at MessageLabs "This backdoor route turns infected PCs into spam relay engines -- causing individual users concern, as well as security breaches and lost bandwidth and productivity for organisations." The link for this article located at ElectricNews.net is no longer available. . The Sobig worm is to thank for a massive increase in spam e-mail during 2003 and the problem of unso. sobig, thank, massive, increase, e-mail, during, problem. . Anthony Pell

Dec 16, 2003 • Anthony Pell Network Security