Image spam: the threat returns

Off we trot to the Reg Library to select some popular whitepapers for review. This week we mainline on email security, or to be more precise, email insecurity.

Image spam: the threat returns

We were unaware that using pictures to evade spam detectors had peaked in 2007 and then fell away as security software vendors upped their game. In 2009, Image spam is back with a vengeance, as the bad guys have deployed new methods to sidestep detection. In its latest guise, image spam can cause problems for outdated email defences, according to Messagelabs. This paper by two Messagelabs software engineers reveals that some spam-producing and sending software is able to modify each image so that no two images are ever exactly alike. And it points to the dangers of remote image spam – where the email contains a link to a remote URL.

By MessageLabs reckoning,34 per cent of unsolicited emails in May 2009 was remote image spam, and another seven per cent was traditional image spam where the images were embedded or attached. Remote image spam has “clearly become a key weapon for the world’s spamming industry.”

This well written, thoughtful paper contains the gentlest of pitches, which can be summarized as: "employ a company that is eternally vigilant and understands email".

The security implications of Web 2.0

MessageLabs is the email hosted security wing of Symantec. Its rival MX Logic is soon to occupy a similar role for McAfee, which is buying the company to bolster its hosted email filtering services.

In this paper, MX Logic goes in for some thought leadership. In essence, the content is a bunch of definitions about Web 2.0 vulnerabilities and a checklist of countermeasures. A useful primer, which is readable to business managers, without talking down to the techies.

Should your email live in the cloud: a comparative cost analysis

It’s all very well handing over email filtering to the cloud, but what about the entire email infrastructure? This is something that Dell is keen to facilitate. The computer giant has a rapidly growing services business and is on the hunt for customers, particularly for its hosted Exchange business. Accordingly, the company has commissioned or sponsored Forrester Research for this thorough report, which teases out the conclusions from interviews with 53 end user companies and 21 vendors.

The paper presents a spreadsheet cost model to help you calculate your fully loaded on-premise email costs and compare it against cloud-based alternatives. The upshot, according to Forrester: Cloud-based email makes sense for companies or divisions as large as 15,000 users. Also, every company can benefit from occasional users or email filtering to a cloud-based provider.

The financial logic for mid-sized companies and smaller to adopt hosted email appears impeccable. But how many of us are ready to put our trust into a third party provider? This paper will help you decide if money can overcome fear. ®