Jackson suicide spam hides virus, BBC News, 10 June 2005

“The fake message contains a web link that supposedly links to Mr Jackson's suicide note. Those who click on the link in the fake e-mail to see the supposed suicide note will get a message suggesting that the site hosting it is busy. The virus downloaded is a variant of the Borobt-Gen trojan which gives the virus' creator a backdoor into infected machines.”

Full Story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4080786.stm



Trojan Spreads in Michael Jackson Spotlight, Internret.com, 10 June 2005

“British anti-virus firm Sophos says hackers are slamming computers around the world with a Trojan virus by sending e-mails claiming Michael Jackson has tried to kill himself. The linked site contains a Trojan program known as Troj/Borobt-Gen and quickly installs malware onto the computer via a patchable flaw in Internet Explorer.”

Full Story at http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3511891



Yahoo sees larger opportunity in voice services, Yahoo.com, 10 June 2005

“Yahoo is looking to boost its business in the Internet's next big growth area -- voice communications. Yahoo saw an opportunity to simplify the growing sprawl of customers' e-mail accounts and voice mail boxes. As part of the SBC deals, SBC customers will be able to access voice mails through Yahoo's e-mail service.”

Full Story at http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050610/wr_nm/telecoms_yahoo_dc




Hong Kong Plans to Enact Anti-Spam Law, Yahoo.com, 12 June 2005

“The government has consulted with industry groups to craft a law that would combat junk faxes, e-mails, text messages and telemarketing calls. However, to take effect at an unspecified date in 2006 would not cover "manually made cold calls" to avoid interfering with normal business activities.”

Full Story at http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050612/ap_on_hi_te/hong_kong_spam_crackdown



When Microsoft thinks privacy, CnetNews.com, 10 June 2005

“Today the SmartScreen technology that's resident in MSN and Outlook is blocking over 3 billion pieces of mail per day. So this is spam that's not even reaching users' mailboxes. Some of our users of those products have experienced as much as a 90 percent reduction in spam…Gates proposed the concept of charging for e-mail. Currently, a spammer needs to only get a response of about 0.001 percent of the mail they send out to make money. If you increase the cost of sending the mail, it adds to the problem (for them).”

Full Story at http://news.com.com/When+Microsoft+thinks+privacy+-+page+2/2008-1082_3-5740928-2.html?tag=st.next



Recon worms on the way, experts say, CnetNews.com, 10 June 2005

“James Kay, the chief technology officer at e-mail security company Blackspider Technologies, said Friday that vulnerability assessment worms are quite rare at the moment. However, their number will probably increase as virus writers focus their attacks more carefully and try to avoid detection. In 2005, we expect to see ever more complex worms and viruses in the wild, incorporating complex behavior: polymorphic worms, metamorphic worms and worms that make use of entry-point obscuration. For example, SpyBot.KEG is a sophisticated vulnerability assessment worm that reports discovered vulnerabilities back to the author via IRC channels."

Full Story at http://news.com.com/Recon+worms+on+the+way%2C+experts+say/2100-7349_3-5740912.html?part=rss&tag=5740912&subj=news



Spam sign-up man convicted of harassment, theregister.com, 10 June 2005

“A US man who signed his boss up to various spam lists has been convicted of harassment. In other junk-mail related news, Israeli legislators are considering the introduction of a law that would let spam recipients sue spammers for compensation”

Full Story at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/06/10/spam_harrassement_lawsuit/