Symantec Reports the Atrophy of Mass-mailers

On August 27-28, Symantec has updated its viral definitions in order to include the W32.Stration.C@mm mass-mailing worm whose moderate spreading determined the Cupertino-based Company to consider it a low risk, level 2 threat. "For some time now we have observed fewer and fewer new instances of mass-mailing worms, so it has now become a bit of a novelty to see that somebody is still willing to invest time and effort into creating a worm that uses this method as the primary means of propagation," wrote Hon Lau, Security Response Engineer at Symantec on the company’s Weblog.

Hon Lau argued that while mass-mailing has lived out their center stage performance, user manipulation via social engineering schemes will always be a gap in the digital panoply, ensuring the survival of the technique. He also added that mass-mailing stars like Netsky, Beagle and Mydoom have slipped into a cone of shadow. "The last truly effective mass-mailing worm we have seen was W32.Mydoom.AX@mm, which burst onto the scene back in February of 2005; in this case it managed to reach a category rating of 3. Since then, no other mass-mailing worm has achieved anywhere near the same level of success in propagation," commented Hon Lau.

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