Spam, still annoying
but more people accept it
Most people still agree spam is annoying, but more
people are learning to live with it. A new study released Sunday by the Pew Internet and
American Life Project shows 53 percent of adult emailers in this country trust email less because of spam, but that’s down from 62 percent
in June
2003. Similarly, 22 percent of respondents in the survey
conducted between Jan. 13 and Feb. 9 say they spend less time emailing
because of spam, down from 29 percent in the June 2003 study. One growing
trend among web surfers is setting up email accounts with addresses
containing a semi-random mix of numbers and letters to reduce the risk of
falling victim to spammers
who
use combinations of words found in a
dictionary.
Watch out for 'Windows machine' subject lines
Microsoft’s
intense effort to help computer users fix the abundance of security flaws
in its products has turned into a scam itself. A new swindle making the
rounds online involves emails that appear to come from Microsoft warning
Windows users to download a security update. But once users link from the
email to the patch’s supposed web site, they’re instead infected with
a Trojan horse virus that allows hackers to control their PCs,
according to anti-virus software developer Sophos. This new scam comes
curiously and conveniently around the same time as Microsoft’s latest
regularly scheduled security update, slated for Tuesday. Subject lines
used in the scam include “Update your windows machine,” “Urgent
Windows Update” and “Important Windows Update.” Microsoft said it
was aware of the scam and reminded users that Microsoft.com is the only
place to get legitimate security updates for its products.
College kid
gives Sony's PSP online capability
When
Sony launched its PSP, the hot handheld gadget came equipped with a
Wi-Fi antenna, but the lack of a web browser made net surfing impossible.
Until now. Jonathan Terleski, a student at Carnegie Mellon, has found a way
to sidestep the system’s browser deficiency to make it online capable
without altering the hardware or using any third-party software. The PSP
game “Wipeout Pure” has a web browser, but only one page is viewable.
If PSP owners change a few of their systems’ network settings and enter
67.171.70.72 as a primary DNS, it replaces the dead-end Sony page with a
page Terleski set up with links to Yahoo, Google and other high-traffic
sites. When “Wipeout Pure” owners load the game and select the
new connection they created, they should be online, provided they’re in
a functional hot spot and the portal page isn’t overly busy. Next month
Sony will launch a version of the PSP in South Korea that has a web
browser.
Nation's
first spam felon gets nine years in prison
If
you do the e-crime, you may do some real time. That was the message sent
by Loudon County Circuit Judge Thomas Horne in Virginia Friday when he
sentenced Jeremy Jaynes to nine years in prison for overflowing internet
users with millions of emails. Jaynes was convicted in November of using
phony internet addresses to send mass email ads through an America Online
server. In Virginia, sending mass emails isn’t a crime unless the sender
conceals his
or her identity as Jaynes did. A true online con artist, Jaynes also used the internet to sell porn and to push
fake services like a FedEx refund processor, prosecutors say. Jaynes’ legal team plans to
appeal the sentence, citing the fact that their client was charged as an
out-of-state resident violating a state law that took effect only a few
weeks before.
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