Spammers use meltdown to diversify beyond Viagra
Sidin Vadukut -
Thursday, January 29, 2009 6:51 PM
Observe this little snapshot from my Gmail spam folder:
Spammers, those nimble footed fiends, have already tapped into the global meltdown to trap gullible email users. With the ILO stating that millions of jobs maybe lost due to the downturn spam producers are already making relevant changes to their packaging.
Astute email readers who occasionally dip into their smap folders--you know who you are--will remember that months ago spammers and hackers had already tapped into the Obama phenomenon:
Following Obama's presidential victory Tuesday, malware authors were quick to create a Trojan exploiting the high volumes of Web traffic surrounding Obama, security experts said.
President-elect Barack Obama is already targeted as the subject of a malicious malware campaign designed to steal information from infected computers.
The implications are interesting. Perhaps, thanks to spammers, a reliable guide to internet and media trends exists right underneath our noses--in our junk mail folders. Journalists and internet gurus will do well to keep a close eye on their unsolicited communications.
This also means that one trend that is hard to miss--excuse the pun--is that of male erectile dysfunction. As Lisa Emery gently reminds in above picture while Obama and job losses may be temporary, performance anxiety is forever.