My Spam analysis for Aug 18 - 24, 2008
This is the latest entry in a series about classifications of spam, according to my custom filter rules used by the anti-spam tool, MailWasher Pro.
MailWasher Pro is a spam screening program that goes between your email servers and your desktop email client (application). It uses a variety of techniques to recognize what is and isn't spam, including a learning filter and user created custom filter rules. I personally write and use MailWasher Pro custom filters to detect and delete most incoming spam email. I have created and published a large assortment of spam filters which "plug-in" to MailWasher Pro, to flag or delete known spam. You can read about them, or download and use them in your own registered copy of MailWasher Pro.
MailWasher Pro has a "Statistics" display page that breaks down the types of spam it has deleted, listed by categories. Each program and user-created filter has a name and when a measurable percentage of spam is matched by a particular filter it shows up in the Statistics, with its percentage shown next to it. The percentages for various categories of spam listed below are taken from my MailWasher Pro "Statistics" page.
The category "Other Filters" combines several of my custom filters which did not receive enough spam to rate a measurable percentage, thus were all grouped into the one category called "Other Filters." Since I have a lot of custom filters and spam types do vary every week, the Other Filters category is always quite large, percentage-wise.
When it comes to major spam runs, sent entirely through zombie computers which are unwittingly members of Botnets, certain types of spam rise to the top of the threat list, every week or two. The most common email threat this week is male enhancement products. Previously, it was Trojan Video exploit links. These messages either have fake news headlines, or use the names of famous actresses in the subject, with ludicrous or nasty claims about their activities. The message body may contain links to read more, view or play a video, or even have a pornographic image of the actress whose name is used in the subject. All either have links to exploit web pages, or to directly download a Trojan file.
If you have clicked on one of these Trojan download links you may have either knowingly, or unknowingly allowed a hostile file to be installed, and are probably in need of the services of an up-to-date anti-spyware program to disinfect your PC. I recommend Spyware Doctor, from PC Tools, because it specializes in spyware detection and removal, and is updated very frequently. As Spyware tools go, Spyware Doctor is one of the top rated in the industry. Symantec also thinks that PC Tools makes great security programs and just bought the company. However, PC Tools will continue to market Spyware Doctor on its own, so you are assured of continuing updates and support..
MailWasher Pro spam category breakdown for August 18 - 24, 2008. Spam amounted to 47% of incoming email this week.
| Male enhancement spam (subject or body): | 27.62% |
|---|---|
| Video Exploit links to Trojan download: | 20.95% |
| Other filters: (See my MWP Filters page) | 15.69% |
| Loans/Bankruptcy/Insurance Scams: | 14.29% |
| Pharmaceutical spam (inc. Viagra, Cialis, Levitra & misc. pills & herbals): | 6.68% |
| Counterfeit Watches: | 4.29% |
| Known Spam Subjects: | 3.81% |
| Blacklisted Domains/Senders: (by pattern matching wildcard rules) | 2.86% |
| Digits or Consonants forged sender: | 2.38% |
| DNS Blacklists: | 1.43% |
If you are reading this and wondering what you can do to reduce the huge volumes of spam emails that must be overwhelming your POP client inboxes, I recommend MailWasher Pro (with my downloadable custom filters) as an incoming email screener for your POP email program (Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, Microsoft Live Mail, Eudora, Mozilla and other stand-alone email programs).
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