The Next Generation of Spam: Image and PDF Spam

As spam filters get increasingly effective, spammers are changing their tactics to foil anti-spam software and get through to your inbox. Recently, this has involved a shift from the use of text-based spam to the use of embedded images and PDF file attachments as the preffered delivery method for their spammy intrusions.

Image Spam

The prevalence of this form of spam increased in 2006, primarily as a means for advertising penny stocks. It involved the use of a picture or graphic embedded in the body of the junk email. The junk email's message is displayed as an image.

Because most anti-spam filters are text-based, image spam was relatively successful. This led to its use in advertising everything from sexual enhancement to fake pharmaceuticals.

One serious effect of image spam has had is to further clog up Internet bandwidth, and drive up costs to businesses. This is because the average size of each junk email almost doubled. In fact, this increased size and the sheer volume of image spam forced many businesses to block all emails that contained embedded or attached images.

By early 2007, image spam reached an all-time high, accounting for almost two-thirds of all junk email. However, as spam filter technology has adapted to detect image spam, its use has since declined to less than 15% of all junk email. Instead, spammers are turning to PDF spam
  
PDF Spam

Spammers are increasingly using PDF files to bear their spam messages. The practice begun in mid-2007, primarily as a scam to fool recipients into investing their money in the stock of a particular company.

With this type of spam, the junk email is sent out with a PDF file attachment, which most anti-spam filters cannot or do not read. These attachments range from rudimentary to professional-looking documents. The text in the body of the email is usually nonsensical gobbledygook that the spam-filter does not recognize as junk mail.

For the spammer, the use of PDF files is advantageous because PDF files are so commonly used in the business world. In fact, several companies allow or even require their business email systems to deliver these documents to the recipient. This makes it very likely that this PDF spam will reach the user's inbox.

The use of junk mail with PDF attachments takes up even more Internet bandwidth. This is because PDF files are generally much larger than the embedded pictures and graphics used in image spam. Image spam is typically in GIF format; PDF files are upto 3 times the size of these files.

The upside to the use of image and PDF spam is that so far, there is no hard evidence that either one can be used to embed malicious software on the recipient's computer. The only harm is done to those who do what the message says. Spammers have also begun to experiment with attachments in different file types such as excel and zip files.

The advent and decline of the different types of spam attest to the cat-and-mouse game that goes on between the spammers and the security experts. As anti-spam technology catches up to their techniques, they continue to innovate and change tactics to deliver their spam messages.

The Costs of Spam

The Costs of Spam

The volume of spam that is sent out every minute of the day has reached pandemic proportions. The simple reason for this is because the cost to a spammer ranges from zero to negligible. In fact, anyone with a list of email addresses and Internet access can spam thousands, even millions of people with a single click of the mouse. The cost of spam, however, now runs in the millions.

Bandwidth

Spam takes up valuable Internet bandwidth that would otherwise be used for legitimate business and personal use. Bandwidth refers to rate at which data is transmitted; it is the amount of data that can be transmitted within a fixed amount of time. The lower the bandwidth, the slower the transmission.

When spam uses up valuable bandwidth, and clogs up the system, it causes costly delays in the transmission of important, legitimate information. It forces the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to increase bandwidth just to handle the increased volume. This costs money, and this cost is passed on to the consumer.

Viruses, Worms and Malware

It is becoming an increasingly common menace. Spammers will attach viruses to the email they send out for purely criminal or malicious purposes. Some viruses, for example, are programmed to self-install and give the spammer access to all the vital information stored on your computer. This information is often be used for identity theft purposes.

Other viruses simply do great harm to computers the world over. A Consuner Reports  study estimates that the cost of repairs and replacement parts for damage done to computer systems by viruses was over 8 billion over the past two years. This does ot take into account the billions spent on anti-spam and anti-virus software.

Productivity

Spam is not only annoying, it also takes up valuable time just to go through it and figure out sort out the spam from the valid mail. For businesses that receives hundreds of emails a day, the cost in time and productivity really adds up.
The "cost of spam calculator" that is available at cmsconnect.com estimates  the that spam costs almost $1000 per employee each year, with over 50 hours of lost productivity for each one.

Lost Messages and Data

As we try to battle the spammers by installing spam filters and blockers, these programs often weed out legitimate businesss correspondence. Lost correspondence from a client or supplier can easily cost businesses money, clients and goodwill

Identity Theft

The phenomenon of phishing has become more prevalent as spammers think up new ways to make a buck at your expense. Phishing involves the use of email that is designed to look like a legitimate company has sent it. It is sent out to millions of people in the hope of scamming them into revealing personal information that the scammer can use for identity theft. The cost of Phishing and identity theft to their victims now also runs in the billions.

The cost of spam is a financial drain on the economy. We pay a high price for the spammer to scam his victims. The spammer pays nothing.