The Spam Cryer

Update of the McAfee S.P.A.M Experiment

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July 2nd, 2008

Hear ye, Hear ye!

While [tag]McAfee[/tag] is supposed to release the full report today one mother of three named Tracey Mooney has already talked to Network World and given her version of the experience of being deliberately naive on the Internet for a month.

The outcome?

Tracey is quoted as being ‘Horrified’ at the ‘snake oil’ and ‘true junk’ she received in her inbox. Over the course of the month she received her share of the 23,233 SPAM messages sent to the 5 US based participants and even her snail mail box started filling up with the offers for things like a Credit Card with a $7,500 limit in the name of her alias ‘Penelope Retch’. The PC’s used were clogged up with malware and as a result were noticeably slower. I think I predicted this outcome when we first heard of this experiment.

Network World article:

• www.networkworld.com/news/2008/070108-mcafee-spam-experiment.html?page=1

McAfee S.P.A.M. site:

• www.mcafeespamexperiment.com

Our Predictions:

• www.cudamail.com/blog/2008/04/10/MyPredictionsOnMcAfeesGlobalSpammedPersistentlyAllMonthOrSPAMExperiment.aspx

So what is the word to the wise?

1. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
2. Don’t click on unsolicited links in e-mail as you will probably get infected and have to wipe your PC and start over wasting your valuable time.
3. Use a good anti-spam service such as [tag]CudaMai[/tag]l that focuses on keeping the false positives to a minimum while still blocking 95% or more of the spam.
4. Keep your desktop anti-malware protection up to date.
5. Do regular backups for when you do get infected and have to start over.
6. Download and apply the patches for your Operating system (XP, Vista and even Linux!) and programs on a regular, at least monthly, basis.

Play safe out there on the Internet!

- Shaun

Entry Filed under: CudaMail, Research