Dragging the Net for Cyber Criminals

Sophos's helpful information page offers ways to avoid and deal with spam and The Washington Post recently published a how-to list for spotting spam and other online scams.

Meantime, spam-fighting technologies continue to be at the forefront of the spam battle, as do Internet service providers, including America Online, Earthlink and Yahoo, who have rolled out spam filters and other spam-fighting efforts. "This month, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) reviewed several e-mail authentication proposals, agreeing to fast-track a submission from Microsoft known as Sender ID. The group also reviewed submissions for signature-based authentication from companies such as Cisco Systems and Yahoo and recommended the authors combine and resubmit those proposals together," CNET's News.com reported. "A timeline has yet to be set for reviewing and approving these proposals. But the attention on e-mail authentication standards is a welcome sign of progress, according to anti-spam experts, who said the technology promises what current anti-spam solutions can't yet offer -- the chance to drive up costs for spammers."

BBC News Online today reported about a novel spam-fighting approach, which uses DNA-style analysis to target spam. The BBC said "computational biologists at IBM's TJ Watson Research Center have devised an anti-spam filter based on the way scientists analyse genetic sequences. Called after Feng Shui character Chung-Kwei, the formula automatically learns patterns of spam vocabulary and has proved to be 96.5 percent efficient. In tests, the filter only misidentified one message in 6,000 as spam."
• BBC News Online: 'DNA Analysis' Spots E-mail Spam

While spam continues to be a thorn in the side of Internet users, phishing attacks are growing in popularity too. Just last week, two of Germany's largest banks were hit, IDG News Service reported. "Until recently, most phishing attacks have been aimed at customers of banks in English-speaking countries. ... But 'over the past few weeks, we've seen a shift to countries like Brazil and now Germany,' said Mikko Hypponen, director of antivirus research at F-Secure Corp. in Helsinki, Finland," the article said.
• IDG News Service via Computerworld: Big German Banks Hit By Phishing Attacks

The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky., reported today that phishing attacks "are growing about 52 percent a month, according to the latest report from the AntiPhishing Working Group, an informal organization that includes computer security companies, banks and law-enforcement agencies. It said there were 1,422 unique attacks in June and that 92 percent relied on e-mail. The most-targeted companies in June, it found, were Citibank, eBay, U.S. Bank and PayPal. Attacks also were reported involving Bank One and BB&T"
• The Courier-Journal: Phishing Scams Spread on Internet

Online Recruitment Magazine's Web site published a list yesterday of the top five ways to spot a phishing attack. "We are starting to see more and more phishing sites which are not targeting specific financial institutes, but are targeting general e-commerce. We have seen 'fake' online banks, sporting good stores, and pharmacies, demonstrating that the attacks are becoming more dangerous to a greater number of businesses," according to Dan Hubbard, an Internet security expert at San Diego-based Websense Inc., the report said.

Disconnect for Phone Industry

Phone service and other technology innovations by cable, wireless and Internet players are hurting traditional phone company business, the Wall Street Journal reported in a front-page article today. For example, "[Verizon Communication Inc.'s] traditional phone lines are down by 9 million, or 16 percent, since the end of 2000, according to research firm Precursor Group," the article said. "Across the nation, the business models that have worked for decades for Verizon and other phone giants are showing signs of unraveling. The cable industry's push into the phone business and a torrent of innovations such as Internet calling and advanced wireless technology are threatening the foundations of the nation's $300 billion telecom industry."
• The Wall Street Journal: Phone Industry Faces Upheaval as Ways of Calling Change Fast (Subscription required)

The International Herald Tribune ran its own telecom trend piece today, focusing on the growth of international telecom business on the heels of trouble with U.S. telecom companies. An excerpt: "Billions of dollars worth of global telecommunications networks bought or built under U.S. direction and used to transport much of the world's Internet traffic now belong to Chinese, Indian and other non-U.S. companies that snapped them up for a small fraction of their original cost less than four years after the telecom bubble burst," the article said. "The shift in the balance of power has both political and economic consequences. For one, the international components of a nation's communications infrastructure, considered a strategic and defensive holding, may now be controlled by those who don't share the nation's interests. But another consequence is that such diversification of ownership contributes to competition and thus helps keep prices down."
• International Herald Tribune: U.S. Telecom Pain Is World's Gain

Getting the FCC's Attention

In more telecom news, Verizon and Qwest Communications International Inc. want the FCC on their side. They "have asked a federal court to throw out a set of temporary regulations banning giant regional phone companies from raising the wholesale rates they charge competitors for at least six months. The legal action comes after the Federal Communications Commission issued the temporary rate freeze on Friday. The rivals, including AT&T Corp. and MCI Inc., have no local network of their own and depend on the regulated rates to offer their own brand of local phone service," The Washington Post reported. The Financial Times picked up on a telling quote from the Baby Bells, from their filing: "It is simply inexcusable for the FCC to flout a binding judicial determination yet again, and to extend those never-lawful requirements for nearly another year," the companies said.
• The Washington Post: Verizon, Qwest Seek to Overturn FCC Rate Freeze (Registration required)
• Financial Times: Verizon and Qwest Ask Court to Block FCC Rules

Search Satisfaction Getting More Hits

Researchers have found that Americans are happier with search engines and news sites, according to a Dow Jones Newswires article on a University of Michigan study. "Search engines led the pack in customer satisfaction, with Google Inc. scoring 82 out of 100 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index, a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services, which is updated quarterly. Satisfaction for the e-business category, which includes search engines, portals and news sites, rose to 72.5 from 71.4 last year but the score is still lower than the Index's cross-industry average of 74.4."
• Dow Jones Newswires via The Wall Street Journal: Attitudes Improve Toward Search Engines, News Sites (Subscription required)

EU After Microsoft Again

Microsoft can't catch a break with antitrust regulators across the pond. "The European Commission on Wednesday launched an in-depth investigation of plans by Microsoft Corp. and Time Warner Inc. to acquire joint control of ... ContentGuard Holdings Inc.," Reuters reported. The wire service said the deal evenly splits ownership of the U.S. technology company, which protects digital files from illegal copying. "The European Union executive [body], which regulates mergers and takeovers, said a preliminary review had revealed that the deal could create or boost a dominant position by Microsoft in the market for so-called Digital Rights Management," the article said. The Associated Press also reported the news, noting the "world's largest software company and the world's biggest media concern aim to develop new industry standards in the rapidly expanding market for Internet distribution of electronic media. Other partners include Japanese giant Sony Corp., but they also face industry pressure to make any Microsoft-backed standards compatible with as many devices and online stores as possible."
• Reuters: EU Probes Microsoft/Time Warner Venture
• The Associated Press: Microsoft-Time Warner Deal Faces In-Depth EU Review

Filter is designed for hard-core techies, news junkies and technology professionals alike. Have suggestions, cool links or interesting tales to share? Send your tips and feedback to cindyDOTwebbATwashingtonpost.com. (Yes, those spammers have been having a lot of fun with my e-mail address lately.)