Spammers not hitting Twitter yet, after all
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 | 02:20 PM ET
By Emily Chung, CBCNews.ca
Yesterday, I received a note in my inbox saying that the security firm Websense had "already detected tens of thousands of spam messages with #SwineFlu themed subjects via Twitter, mostly offering cheap pharma drugs."
The note, from a public relations firm representing the internet security firm Websense, seemed worth mentioning, so I wrote about it. It was the first I'd heard of spammers using Twitter, a social networking site that is growing quickly in popularity.
That was interesting because Twitter has a couple of qualities that might appeal to spammers. First of all, it's designed to be an online community where you can interact with both friends and strangers. Secondly, the 140-character limit for all messages or tweets encourages people to shorten links, making them unidentifiable. When you click on that URL, you need to have to trust the person who posted it. There is always the chance it could take you somewhere unexpected and possibly dangerous.
Today, the public relations firm staffer who sent yesterday's e-mail apologized it turns out she had misunderstood. The swineflu spam was being sent out by the usual method: e-mail. And while there was a buzz about swineflu on Twitter that spammers had picked up on, Twitter wasn't where the spam was at.
I spoke to Stephan Chenette, manager of security research for Websense, who said that spammers have yet to take advantage of Twitter's possibilities.
"That's not happening, from what we see, just yet," he said.
And so far, their emails, with subject lines offering swineflu meds and antibiotics, do nothing except advertise drugs. However, Chenette said new categories of spam often evolve to incorporate phishing lures and links to malicious websites. Those can be used to steal personal information or distribute malicious code. In the meantime, he said, Websense is keeping an eye on the situation.
« Previous Post |Main| Next Post »
This discussion is nowOpen. Submit your Comment.
« Previous Post |Main| Next Post »
Post a Comment
Tech Bytes »
Recent Posts
- Another reason to worry about nuclear attacks
- Tuesday, July 28, 2009
- Facebook and the latest photo flap
- Monday, July 27, 2009
- Waiting for Wireless-N
- Monday, July 27, 2009
- Pirate Bay's legacy
- Wednesday, July 22, 2009
- What Big Brother can do to your e-books
- Monday, July 20, 2009
- Subscribe to Tech Bytes
Archives
- July 2009 (14)
- June 2009 (10)
- May 2009 (18)
- April 2009 (17)
- March 2009 (13)
- February 2009 (11)
- January 2009 (12)
- December 2008 (10)
- November 2008 (10)
- October 2008 (9)
- September 2008 (4)
- August 2008 (4)
- July 2008 (16)
- June 2008 (9)
- May 2008 (12)
- April 2008 (15)
- March 2008 (13)
- February 2008 (13)
- January 2008 (47)
- December 2007 (12)
- November 2007 (12)
- October 2007 (17)
- September 2007 (18)
- August 2007 (17)
- July 2007 (27)
- June 2007 (18)
- May 2007 (28)
- April 2007 (25)
- March 2007 (28)
- February 2007 (25)
- January 2007 (35)
- December 2006 (25)
Comments
name
link
Nice,
Posted July 29, 2009 04:56 AM