Google+: big companies can cause big problems

Monday, July 25th, 2011

In its first three weeks of availability, Google+ reportedly attracted 20 million users. That’s a pretty impressive launch – especially since it’s been accompanied by what can only be described as a negative marketing campaign. Even as millions of users have poured onto the service, Google has insisted on calling it a “limited field trial”. At this rate, by the time they officially make it available to the public, everyone will already be on it.

Everyone, that is, except for Mr Matthew Brock of Swiss Cottage. I have it on good authority that the gentleman in question, an old friend of mine, is giving Google+ a miss. (more…)

vBulletin forums hit by reCAPTCHA cracking spam bot

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

Since the holidays ended, security vendors have been happily telling me that spam levels have dropped dramatically. The spammers, they say, have taken some time off.

That may well have been the case as far as email spam was concerned, but back in the real world — which includes any business running a vBulletin forum for customer support — things have been far from quiet. In fact, there’s something of a spam crisis going on right now as it appears the bad guys have worked out how to crack the reCAPTCHA system that safeguards vBulletin-powered forum registrations from automated bots.

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The ten best spam comments left on PC Pro

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010

Every morning the likes of me, Barry Collins and Nicole Kobie spend several minutes wading through spam on our blogs. We attract it like flies to, um, other flies.

It sounds like a chore – it is a chore – but just sometimes I’m tempted to leave the spam on because they’re so ridiculous. So here, in no great order, are my top ten spam comments left on PC Pro.

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Comment spam on PC Pro

Monday, October 18th, 2010

As some of you have noticed, PC Pro has come under a sustained spam attack on article comments over the past week. We’ve been working hard over the weekend to remove offending messages and block the spammers, but please accept our apologies if you’ve seen junk messages appearing on the site.

We’re investigating ways to permanently beef up our spam defences. In the meantime, we appreciate your patience and please don’t respond to the spammers. Even to call them rude names on comments.

Thanks.

Could McAfee (and Firefox) kill spam?

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Today I received the most convincing phishing email yet to hit my inbox, to the extent that it inspired enough doubt in my mind that I clicked on one of the links (making sure my security software was up to date first, just in case!).

Why was I fooled? For one, it actually had my name in the email, and for another we as a magazine have been focusing on eBay for the last month or two as part of the investigative cover feature that adorns the current issue (eBay exposed). Could it be some sort of malicious attack from an eBay devotee, a paranoid part of my mind wondered?

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Is Mercy just looking for me?

Friday, December 5th, 2008

Forgive this slightly frivulous post, but I received this email in my inbox this morning – entitled “Hello Dear” – and was curious just how many other people received it:

Good day my dear

How are you today? I hope you are fine. If so thank be to God almighty. Please excuse me, I saw your contact email while browsing through the internet so I decided to contact you despite that I have not seen you in person. It will be my pleasure to communicate with you.

My name is Mercy John, from Siere_Leone in West Africa. I am single girl looking for honest and nice person. Somebody who care and fear God whom I can partner with. I don’t care about your colour or ethnicity. I would like to know you more, most especially what you like and what you dislike. I’m sending you this beautiful mail, with a wish for much happiness. I am looking forward to hear from you. Write me on my personal email [removed]@gmail.com) Thanks and God bless.

Greetings from,

MERCY.

Obviously I’ve already got in touch with Mercy and I fully expect us to be married next Autumn, but just how many rivals will I have for her affections? Let me know below, and if necessary we can duel at dawn for the right to her hand.

Spammers get the go-ahead in the US

Monday, September 15th, 2008

So it seems that you can now get away with sending spam from one country at least, guess which; Russia? Africa? China? Nope. The good old US of A.

Thanks to a court decision last week which overturned the notorious spammer Jeremy Jaynes’ nine-year prison sentence, it’s now deemed “unconstitutional” to jail spammers.

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MySpace wins hollow victory against Spam King

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

Sometimes you just have to laugh, even when you really do not want to. I found myself having a little titter missus, which turned into something of a ROFL before morphing naturally into red-faced spitting feathers anger last night. The cause of the kerfuffle being the widespread media reporting of the massive victory for MySpace which had just won a $234 million lawsuit against the Spam King himself, Sanford Wallace along with his partner in crime Walter Rines.

MySpace has been quick to make much fuss about this being a record payout, about it being the biggest judgement in a CAN-SPAM Act ruling yet. Fair play, at face value there does seem cause for celebration. Anything that helps take down the spammer scum has got to be good news, right?

Wrong.

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