Defensive Email Links by Michael Horowitz

Deceptive New Phishing Scams by Steve Bass February 3, 2006
How Not to Get Hooked by a ‘ Phishing’ Scam from the FTC (June 2005).
Digital PhishNet is a joint enforcement initiative between industry and law enforcement to ensnare those perpetrating phishing attacks
How to tell friend from fraud when e-mail smells 'phishy' by Mike Himowitz in the Baltimore Sun. February 3, 2005
New Netcraft Toolbar Blocks Phishing, Analyzes Web Sites By Larry Seltzer in eWeek December 30, 2004
Top Phish of the Week PC Magazine December 14th, 2004
Phishing' attacks rocket in November December 15, 2004 CNET News.com
Ex-U.S. cyber security chief sees curb on phishing Reuters December 9, 2004
Don't be reeled in by phishing con artists and other Internet swindlers by Eileen Ambrose in the Baltimore Sun October 10, 2004
Phishers hooking bigger catches By Mike Langberg in the Mercury News October 8, 2004. Covers some of the most serious dangers of phishing scams.
Spotting Phish and Phighting Back By Larry Seltzer in eWeek August 2, 2004. About Phishing scams based on political fund raising.
Microsoft Pitches Into Phishing Battle By TechWeb News July 22, 2004
Opting into Identity Theft by Lance Ulanoff in PC Magazine July 21, 2004
New Phishing Technique Works on Multiple Browsers By Larry Seltzer in eWeek July 19, 2004
What you need to know about phishing from Microsoft Published: May 27, 2004 Updated: July 8, 2004
Phishing Attacks Linked To Organized Crime Tactics Growing More Sophisticated by Michael Cohn, Security Pipeline July 7, 2004
Banks Say, 'Phishing Season Is Over' By Brian Livingston in Datamation June 29, 2004
Booming Web Scam Phishing is on the rise: Don't get tricked into divulging personal information online. Steve Bass. PC World June 9, 2004
Consumer Advice: How to Avoid Phishing Scams from the Anti-Phishing Working Group
Phishing scam reports skyrocket in April IDG News Service May 18, 2004. Financial services and retail companies were hit particularly hard
Phishing Scam Hits 57 Million Users NewsFactor Network May 7, 2004 Phishing is an economical fraud. There is a low risk of getting caught and a high reward.
Hackers grab IE's address bar By Brian Livingston in his Brian's Buzz newsletter May 6, 2004. A new wrinkle on phishing.
Phish This, You Scum By Brian Livingston in Datamation May 3, 2004
Treasury, IRS Warn of Identity Theft Scheme Involving Bogus E-mail, Web site IRS Press Release April 30, 2004
Gone Phishing—Yet Another Scam! By John C. Dvorak in PC Magazine April 13, 2004
Phishing con hijacks browser bar BBC News April 8, 2004. Scammers are using increasingly sophisticated methods to trick people into handing over personal information.
Companies sharpen tech tools to counter scams Associated Press April 2, 2004. As phishing proliferates, companies are sharpening technological tools to counter them.
Phishing Technique Replaces Web Browser Address Bar with Malicious JavaScript Fake March 31, 2004 from antiphishing.org
Phishing for Identity Information Enterprise Security Today March 25, 2004
Online Swindlers, Called 'Phishers,' Lure Unwary New York Times March 24, 2004
Report: Phishing attacks on the rise By Kevin Poulsen, SecurityFocus March 19 2004
SSL Phishing Scam from SANS. March 4, 2004. Despite the lock icon on the status bar of your web browser, you could still be at the web site of a scammer and data entered might not be encrypted.
A report on phishing from the U.S. Department of Justice is intended to acquaint you with the warning signs of fraudulent email messages
PayPal Warns Its Customers To Safeguard Personal Data Phony E-Mails Sent to Get Credit Card Numbers. Washington Post March 16, 2004
Don't get suckered by e-hoaxes USA Today March 4, 2004
Latest phishing scam most "devious" ever ZDNet Australia March 3, 2004. Mentions phony certificates; can't trust the lock.
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 833786 February 2004 Steps that you can take to help identify and to help protect yourself from deceptive (spoofed) Web sites and malicious hyperlinks. Fight phishing. Probably too techie for many readers.
Global computer fraud probe ignited by latest e-mail scam Orlando Sentinel January 27, 2004. Recipients told of loss of FDIC coverage
How to avoid the phishing bug by Bill Thompson of BBC news January 23, 2004.
Don't Get Hooked By 'Phishing' the Washington Post January 20, 2004
How to protect yourself from e-mail scams by Robert Vamosi ZDNet January 19, 2004
Anti-spam law could worsen the problem by Mike Himowitz Baltimore Sun January 1, 2004
Internet Explorer URL Spoofing Vulnerability by Patrick Crispen. An explanation of how when you click on a link in an email message, you might not end up at the web site you expected to.
Warning: Look Out for the eBay Scam PC Magazine December 3, 2003
Phishing For Suckers by David Strom Web Informant #351. November 19, 2003
Phish Bait How to Stay on Top of E-Mail Scams by Brendan I. Koerner in the Village Voice November 12, 2003
"Phishing" Is Foul on the Net About fraudulent email messages. Business Week magazine October 21, 2003
Outsmart Scammers Don't let phishers reel you in with counterfeit e-mail and sites. PCWorld.com October 20, 2003
Another eBay scam fishes for bank details ZDNet Australia October 6, 2003
When crooks go a-phishing, don't bite ZDNet. September 29, 2003
Worm Wears A Patch For Disguise The Washington Post September 21, 2003
Email scams via links = Phishing Woody's Windows Watch newsletter July 24, 2003
'Phishing' scams reel in your identity Feds pursue culprits, warn consumers CNN July 22, 2003
FBI Warns of Spike in Identity Thefts IDG News Service July 21, 2003. Email messages, spoof sites often used to lure victims.
Bank Scams, Best Buy Scams, eBay Scams July 9, 2003. Scambusters.com
How Not to Get Hooked by a 'Phishing' Scam Internet scammers casting about for people's financial information have a new way to lure unsuspecting victims: They go "phishing." From the Federal Trade Commission July 2003
Virus Hoaxes and the Real Dangers They Pose Security Focus web site March 25, 2003
Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud Overview from the US Secret Service
The Anti-Phishing Working Group www.antiphishing.org has information about of phishing, e-mail, and identity fraud
Report phishing emails to reportphishing@antiphishing.org
Your National Resource for Identity Theft from the Federal Trade Commission
Scamsafe.com has news and information for fighting identity theft, consumer fraud and protecting personal credit.

If you think an email message might be a hoax, check these web sites:
- Symantec Hoaxes
- McAfee Hoaxes
- HoaxBusters
- Vmyths
- Snopes (watch out for a ton of ads, some of the deceptive)
- urbanlegends.com
- Scambusters
- Truth or Fiction
- www.nonprofit.net/hoax

Antispam Tools: Can They Keep Up? By Neil J. Rubenking in PC Magazine July 9, 2004. Reviews of MailFrontier Desktop 4, ChoiceMail One 2.52, iHateSpam 4.04, Spam Shredder 1.5 and SpamBully 2.0
PC Magazine on anti-spam software
Yahoo News Full Coverage on SPAM and Junk Email
Spam solutions - Our Favorite Blockers - Ella for Spam Control from the Woody's EMAIL Essentials newsletter. May 11, 2004
Getting Rid of "Spam" ..and Other E-mail Pests by Randy Cassingham at spamprimer.com. Somewhat introductory.
Cognitive Rascal in the Amorous Swamp: A Robot Battles Spam By George Johnson in the New York Times. April 27, 2004. About SpamProbe, an anti-spam product based on Bayesian interference.
Understanding spam blocking technologies from the Woody's EMAIL Essentials newsletter. April 1, 2004
In e-mail warfare, the spammers are winning The Baltimore Sun March 14, 2004. Quite a long article.
Mailblocks Will Keep Your Mail Spam-Free, Without the Guesswork By Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal February 19, 2004
Spam filters grab good with bad Wired January 19, 2004
Well-guarded e-mail address, filters are best spam defense by Mike Himowitz Baltimore Sun January 8, 2004
Mossberg's Mailbox by Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal November 13, 2003. A reader asks: Do you have a good recommendation for a spam blocker?
Spam Slayer: Ten Tips and Tricks How to spam-proof your inbox. PCWorld.com. November 24, 2003
Spam Solutions: Good Enough, but Not Perfect PC Magazine November 11, 2003. Reviews McAfee SpamKiller 5.0, Norton AntiSpam 2004 and some Enterprise Spam Tools.
Ticketmaster privacy policy slammed People buying tickets online through Ticketmaster may be surprised to find themselves receiving spam as an encore. CNET News.com August 6, 2003
Kill Spam With Your Own Two Hands by Stephen Manes, Forbes magazine. June 23, 2003 issue. A must read. An overview of various anti-spam techniques and short reviews of anti-spam programs. His favorite was Matador.
The Quest to Block Spam It's possible but not simple Newsday by Lou Dolinar June 23, 2003
Cutting Spam Down To Size Forbes magazine June 4, 2003. About SpamAssassin.
Are Filters the Way to Stop Spam? PC World magazine May 26, 2003. One expert says yes, one says no.
Unsuspecting Computer Users Relay Spam The New York Times. May 20,2003. Page one. By Saul Hansell. Spammers are increasingly sending their messages covertly through the computers of home and office Internet users. The users are often unaware that their computers have been hijacked.
SpamBayes, a free, Open Source spam blocker, does a superb job Sept. 21, 2003 By Al Fasoldt
SpamBayes knows spam By Jon Udell May 16, 2003 InfoWorld magazine. A must read. Ella ($30 from openfieldsoftware.com) functions much the same. It learns from examples of mail you've already received and supports a category between spam and not spam.
SpamBayes home page. (Alternate Link)
Paul Graham has been leading the effort on Bayesian algorithm antispam solutions. He has published two articles on the subject: A Plan for Spam and Better Bayesian Filtering
Winning the War on spam: Comparison of Bayesian spam filters A review of SpamBayes and POPFile. By Kristian Eide August 2003
Finding Solution to Secret World of Spam. The New York Times. May 5, 2003. Saul Hansell. About the various SPAM legislation.
Spammers and virus writers unite As companies tackle spam, the number of insecure internet relays available for spammers to use is diminishing. This has driven some of them to create virus-like programs that take over your email account and use it to funnel SPAM messages. Like many other viruses these programs exploit weaknesses in Microsoft Outlook. BBC News April 30, 2003
Internet Is Losing Ground in Battle Against Spam The New York Times. April 22, 2003. Page one. By Saul Hansell. An excellent overview of the problem. Not available for free.
A New Way to Can E-mail Spam Fortune Magazine. April 15, 2003
Cloudmark is about to release SpamNet which claims to eliminate 90% of junk e-mail by harnessing peer-to-peer technology to broaden its filtering mechanism. Users hit the "block" button whenever they receive spam, and after that the unwanted e-mail is rejected by any computer loaded with SpamNet software. The value of the network increases exponentially with the number of people who join it. About 350,000 people have downloaded the software since it became available in the summer of 2002 and it's gotten some good reviews.
How to Trim the "Spam" from Your E-Mail Diet. Tips for Reducing and Managing Junk E-Mail. March 20, 2003. From Microsoft.
Why Am I Getting All This Spam? Unsolicited Commercial E-mail Research Report from the Center for Democracy & Technology. March 2003
Study suggests spam-stopping tricks CNET News.com March 19, 2003. Keep your email address off of web sites
Why Are You Getting So Much Spam? PC World March 19, 2003. Find out where spammers get your address and how you can hide it.
Slam the Spam PC Magazine. February 25, 2003. Reviews of 16 personal and corporate anti-spam products
A Plague on E-Mail So Much for the Self-Healing, Self-Governing Net. Spam Has Defeated It. What Is to Be Done? By James Gleick. First published in the New York Times Magazine February 9, 2003.
Wage War on Spam With Old Tools and New Filters PC World February 2003 An introduction to creating filters in Outlook, Outlook Express and Mozilla
When Everything Was Spam to ISP. An overly-sensitive spam filter caused a week-long blockade that resulted in non-delivery of some email messages sent to EarthLink subscribers in late October 2002.
Spam filters revealing their darker side. Efforts to eradicate spam are creating collateral damage as network executives find that aggressive filters can block receipt of legitimate mail and create uncertainty over successful delivery. Network World Magazine. September 9,2002.
The Washington Post has a section of their web site devoted to SPAM
Fight Spam On The Internet web site devoted to fighting spam
The Wall Street Journal groups their SPAM articles at wsj.com/Junkmail (for subscribers only)
The Spam Slayer column in PC World by Tom Spring is devoted to SPAM
Federal Trade Commission on SPAM EMAIL
Email and SPAM from TomCat Internet Solutions
Downloadable spam blocking programs from PC World Magazine
Scot Finnie's Newsletter ran many articles on anti-spam programs
The Challenge-Response Approach

System challenges more than spam AP. June 9, 2003. About EarthLink challenge-response system
Challenge-Response May Be a Good Spam Defense, but It Requires Effort The Washington Post June 8, 2003. Reviews Mailblocks and EarthLink products and points out many flaws in this type of system.
Challenge-Response Spam Blocking Challenges Patience May 8, 2003 Ziff Davis. The down side of spam blocking systems that do not accept messages from unknown senders.
Spam blockers may wreak e-mail havoc CNet. By Declan McCullagh May 27, 2003. Another article about the downside to challenge-response.
Halt! Who Spams There? By Walter S. Mossberg March 2003. About Challenge Based anti-SPAM software.

Avoiding SPAM in the first place

How Did Spammers Get My Address? Security Supersite. By Larry Seltzer. August 28, 2003
Why Am I Getting All This Spam? Unsolicited Commercial E-mail Research Report from the Center for Democracy & Technology. March 2003
Why Are You Getting So Much Spam? Find out where spammers get your address and how you can hide it. by Grant Gross, IDG News Service March 19, 2003
Wants Her Chicken - Why Even the Most Legit-Seeming Spam Is a Scam. The Village Voice. May 28, 2003. Brendan Koerner

MailWasher

My Favorite Anti-Spam Tool. PC World Magazine. August 2002. After trying many other anti-spam programs, the author liked MailWasher best.
See a screen shot of MailWasher in action (Note, if you are using IE6, expand the picture to regular size).
A radio interview with Nick Bolton, the man behind MailWasher. Geeks on the Radio. April 1, 2003.
See a video about MailWasher from CNet (only for broadband users) March 2003
You can download the free version of MailWasher or buy MailWasher Pro
Nuke That Spam! from Search Engine Watch April 2002
Product Review October 2002 from Dans Data
Product Review from the Email topic at About.com

False "FROM" Addresses

Question to Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal June 24, 2004: Two e-mail messages were returned to me because they couldn't be delivered due to viruses they contained. But I didn't send these messages. Someone has been using my e-mail address
Consumer Watch: Net Tricks That Muddy Your Reputation. Online bad guys can send spam under your name or steal your financial data. From the March 2003 issue of PC World magazine
That Spam in Your Mailbox? It May Be From Me. The New York Times. May 4, 2003. By George Johnson. The author had his email address used as the FROM address in SPAM messages that he did not send.
Could You Be Sending Spam? Spammers are using new tools to hide the origin of their messages.
by Lincoln Spector PC World May 30, 2003
Beware the 'Joe Job' Avoid seeing your email address as the return address in spam. Tech TV January 22, 2003.

Paranoia: The Best Defense Against E-Mail Attacks by Scott Spanbauer PC World magazine, January 26, 2005. Quoting: "If you keep just this one thing in mind, you'll protect yourself from the majority of e-mail attacks: Assume any message could be malicious."
Description of how the Attachment Manager works in Windows XP Service Pack 2 Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 883260. An awful lot of trouble just for attachments.
They know you've got mail Charles Arthur On Technology July 28, 2004 About web bugs in email messages
You've Got... Options by Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal. June 2004. Four ways to get AOL email without using AOL software.
Is One-Fourth of Your E-Mail Getting Lost? by Brian Livingston in Datamation. April 19, 2004. Most major ISPs shunt into end users' Junk Mail folders — or simply delete — about one-quarter of the corporate opt-in communications that their customers have requested.
How to Stay on Guard and Off the Hook New York Times March 24, 2004
What You Should Know About Mass Mailer Worms from Microsoft. Last Updated: March 19, 2004. Has information on security features in Outlook and Outlook Express
Pursuing e-mail freedom? Let me show you the way By Mike Langberg Mercury News March 8, 2004
E-Mail Virus Points to Human Flaws AP January 28, 2004. About MyDoom
Email filtering in Outlook Express 6 BlackViper.com. Last Update November 9, 2003
How to Tell If a Microsoft Security-Related Message Is Genuine from Microsoft September 19, 2003
About web bugs in HTML email messages. The Internet Tourbus. Patrick Crispen. May 1, 2003.
Using Virus Protection Features in Outlook Express 6 from Microsoft
Some tips on configuring Outlook Express for best security
Test your email defenses This site will send you an email with a .VBS attachment

Other Defensive Computing Links Pages
Backing Up Your Computer Links Virus links Spyware and Adware (malware) links Introduction to Defensive Computing links More Assorted Links
Topics Below	Phishing \| Hoaxes \| SPAM \| Assorted

Created: December 22, 2005		Last Updated: February 7, 2006
www.michaelhorowitz.com/defensiveemail.html	Copyright 2001-2007	Copyright 2001-2007	michael at michaelhorowitz.com

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