From WXPnews
Sunbelt Software
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http://www.wxpnews.com
Last week, when I sent my monthly care package to my daughter in Afghanistan, I also sent off a box to a young man who's serving in Iraq. I got his address from a member of a writer's email list I've belonged to for many years; in a recent email to his aunt, he'd mentioned how sad he was at mail call when those all around him were receiving letters and packages and he never got anything. It reminded me that email is great, but when you're lonely, there's nothing quite like a real letter that you can touch and hold.
At any rate, I followed up to find out what types of snacks and goodies he might like, and learned that he likes Spam. So I packed up three cans of the stuff: a bacon flavored one, a turkey one and one plain old fashioned can of Spam. And it occurred to me that here was an instance of someone who actually wanted to get Spam – but not spam.
As that very real war goes on in the Middle East, back here at home we continue to wage a virtual war against a different kind of spam. And of course, it's not just in the U.S. Just a few days ago, the French government announced a new project by which Internet users could alert their ISPs when they receive spam messages:
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q85JLJ/071009-Signal-spam
And we're hearing that Japanese users are getting an increasing amount of spam mail from Chinese servers, most of it advertising online dating services and adult-oriented web sites:
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q85JLJ/071009-Spam-in-Japan
Spam web sites are causing trouble for Google, as many of these sites are coming up in search results and some of them are downloading malware onto users' computers when they follow the links.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is cracking down on the recent deluge of "pump and dump" spam messages that attempt to inflate the prices of stocks issued by small companies. Recently this has become the second largest category of spam, with as many as 100 million of these messages being sent every week, many of them in the form of PDF attachments. The SEC has reported a 30 percent drop, however, since they initiated an aggressive program that includes freezing the trading on some of these companies
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q85JLJ/071009-Crackdown
Another, more malicious variety of spam that has popped up in the last few months exploits the popularity of social networking. These messages claim to be from an "old school friend" or a "childhood friend" and contain a link that's supposedly for the sender's MySpace (or other social networking) homepage. However, clicking the link takes you to a site that downloads a Trojan which can gather personal information such as account numbers and passwords and send them back to the spammer:
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q85JLJ/071009-Social-spam
Spammers and email scammers are great at taking advantage of whatever's currently in the news and trends in public opinion. Shortly after September 11, there was a spate of spam messages appealing to Americans' patriotic feelings. As the public tide turned, we now see spam messages that hook into anti-war sentiments. The recent downturn in the housing market and the subprime loan scandals have resulted in a new flood of spam messages pertaining to home financing.
You might even be a spammer yourself and not know it. Thousands of computers are infected with malicious software called 'bots that turn them into "zombies" that can be controlled by spammers and used to send spam messages (and hide the true origins of the spam).
Even the federal government is a spammer, albeit inadvertently. The Department of Homeland Security recently misconfigured one of its bulletins, causing a reply message to flood email boxes with over 2 million messages
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q85JLJ/071009-DHS-spam
And now it's not just our PCs that are vulnerable to spam. Now that cell phones have become so sophisticated and we can get email and text messages on them, the spam problem is spreading to them, too. In the U.K., mobile phone spam is becoming a real problem. According to reports, British users are getting more than a million spam text messages every day:
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q85JLJ/071009-British-spam
This could be become a huge problem. Many people have cell phone plans under which they have to pay for every text message they receive. Talk about adding insult to injury – image not just having your email box filled with spam, but on top of that being charged extra for every unwanted message you get.
I'm glad I don't give out my cell phone number to more than a handful of relatives and close friends. But what's to stop these text spammers from using the same techniques as telemarketers – creating lists of sequential phone numbers and sending spam messages to all of them in a "shotgun" approach?
The interesting thing is that anyone can send text messages to a phone at no charge. For example, just go to SMSEverywhere or web sites operated by individual cell phone carriers such as Verizon and type in your message. You, the sender, pay nothing. But unless the recipient has an unlimited text plan, he'll have to pay to receive it. And unlike a phone call, he can't just "not answer" to avoid the charges.
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q85JLJ/071009-SMSEverywhere
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q85JLJ/071009-Verizon
This is a disaster waiting to happen, in my opinion. In addition to "ordinary" spam, a malicious person could target your phone and send you hundreds or even thousands of text messages, costing you a significant amount of money. Isn't this rather like making you pay the postage for the flyers and other junk you get in your snail mailbox, instead of charging the advertisers to send it?
The CAN SPAM Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 2003, prohibits sending commercial messages to wireless devices (including cell phones) without prior permission. This only covers messages that use an email address and does not include "short messages" typically sent from one phone to another. Unfortunately, having a law and enforcing it are two different things. If you get spam text messages on your phone, you can file a complaint with the FCC, but in the meantime, your phone carrier is going to expect you to pay for those messages.
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q85JLJ/071009-CANSPAM
The good news is that even as the spammers step up their efforts and send more and more unwanted messages, many individuals report that their own mailboxes are staying relatively clean. That's because, thanks to anti-spam products such as our own iHateSpam and Ninja Email Security, those messages are being diverted before they ever reach our inboxes – and in the case of server-based programs, before they ever reach our computers.
Tell us what you think: are we winning or losing the war on spam? Are you seeing more or less spam (or about the same amount) in your own mailbox today, compared to a year ago? Should governments be doing more, or is it a problem that will have to be solved technologically? What type of spam are you seeing most, and what type annoys you most? Do you see text messaging spam as the next big threat? What can be done about it? Let us know your opinions at feedback@wxpnews.com
Followup: Alienating Customers, Part Two
Last week, we discussed the latest iPhone snafu: the saga of the hacked phones that no longer work at all after an Apple update, and the company's attitude toward affected users ("sorry, you'll just have to buy a new one."). It was all over the news, and seemed like a pretty good example of how not to win friends and customers. Quite a few readers wrote in response.
Some of you said I'm picking on Apple, despite my statement that "Of course, Apple's not the only company that's ever used such tactics – they're just making the news a lot lately for doing it." Others said they really don't care what Apple does, because they're never going to buy Apple products anyway. Most, though, understood that the point was how companies damage their reputations and lose business by practicing this sort of "tough love" tactic toward their customers.
Alan S. notes that "Macs have been that way since the LISA. It's my guess that most of those complaining are actually Microsoft or Linux users. Some people are happy being told what to do; others aren't happy with that. Macs just don't understand people who want to book their own vacations and not buy a packaged plan."
And it seems a lot of people who want to make their own choices don't understand Apple. Susan W. writes: "Why should I buy a phone, a computer, or anything else that restricts my rights to use it as I want to, with any program I wish to install on it? Why should I be forced to use their network of choice or else? What about MY choices? It is my money, and I started to let my wallet speak for me!"
Some take a pretty hard line against Apple's playing hardball with its customers. Dave B. said, "I don't care if Microsoft makes fun of Apple or not, but I do think that Apple restricting the iPhone to ATT and providing a software patch which disables phones that have been unlocked is a bad business practice, is reprehensible, and is deserving of a lawsuit."
And Ralph G. said, "In my opinion, Apple is overreaching and morally is guilty of theft. It seems to me that once you have bought and paid for something the vendor has sold all rights to controlling the use of that particular item."
Others have no sympathy for those with "bricked" phones. Don D. said, "Some iPhone users chose to invalidate their own warranties by hacking the phone then accuse Apple of poor customer service when the hack bricks their phone? You must be joking. The whiners need to grow up and take responsibility for their actions. The same people who provided the hacks need to provide a fix, not Apple."
And some of you wrote to provide examples of good customer service you've received from Apple. Chris D. wrote that "When I ordered my Mac Pro last year this time, and paid a premium to get the upgraded video card, the price dropped on the cards at source (ATI) by close to $100, which Apple subsequently refunded all purchasers."
On the other hand, Petar Z. puts it in a different perspective: "The bottom line here is that Apple is not delivering what customers want. When that happens, customers go elsewhere to get what they want. It's not about rules, regulations, or whether Apple (or anyone else) has the right to mess with what you licensed/purchased from them. It's about the fundamentals of exchange."
Al T. makes a good point: "That 'locked up' cell phone situation is just as much AT&Ts responsibility as Apple's. Remember that Verizon was also courted as a carrier, but it refused to concede any control to Apple over OS, software, features made available, or revenue sharing." That's just one more reason I'm glad Verizon is my cell phone provider.
Meanwhile, Philip B. sensibly points out: "There's one simple solution to avoiding being trapped by Apple……buy an HTC Touch: no network lock-in, 3.5G, easy to upgrade Windows Mobile 6 etc. etc." In fact, I just wrote an article for TechRepublic titled "Top Ten Alternatives to the iPhone which discusses several such phones, including the Touch. It will be published sometime next week and I'll post the URL to my blog site when it's available.
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q85JLJ/071009-Deb-Blog
