Now, pushing spam through audio files
Spam is now being served in audio form. The latest in
unwanted electronic communication is an MP3 file that
began landing in inboxes around the world last
week. It features a spooky, synthesised
Darth-Vader-sounding female voice touting the stock of
Exit Only Inc, traded on the lower-standard Pink
Sheets.
Hello, this is an investor alert! the voice says.
Her pitch invokes the growth prospects of Exit Only, a
website operator that runs Text4Cars.com, which
links auto buyers and sellers via text messages.
Computer security researchers say the audio blastsMP3
files with misleading names attached to spam
e-mailsreflect spammers need to slip their messages
through increasingly sophisticated e-mail filters. The
MP3s masquerade as cell phone ringtones or carry names
like bartsimpson.mp3 and justintimberlake.mp3,
said Keith Crosley, director of market development for
Proofpoint Inc, which sells e-mail security software
and hardware.
Spammer have had to change tactics as the filters have
gotten smarter at blocking traditional text-based
spam, spam sent as image attachmentssuch as GIFs
or JPEGsand even the latest rage, spam hidden inside
attachments created with Adobe Systems Incs
ubiquitous Portable Document Format, or PDF.
Santa Monica, California-based Exit Only said the
e-mails are being sent by someone trying to pump up
the companys stock before dumping it. Its very
disheartening, said Exit Only Chief Executive David
Dion.
The company hired investigators to trace the origin of
the e-mails, which appear to be coming from ghost
servers in Russia, Dion said. Just $2,500 (euro1,765)
worth of stock was traded in the two days after the
messages appeared, and the stock price remained even,
he said.
This new form of spam shows a new level of
sophistication for spammers and the power of the
botnets, Crosley said, referring to networks of
hijacked computers
that are linked together without their owners
knowledge and turned into spam-sending machines.
AP / Jordan Robertson
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