Two Programmers Suspected for 1.6 Billion Spam Messages

Spam is definitely a problem for all of us because tons of unsolicited mail is continuously arriving into our mail accounts without any solution to block them. At this time, multiple security companies are working for powerful solutions that can protect our inboxes against malicious messages but it is quite difficult because new spamming methods are designed every day. Some of the web-based mails are offering antispam tools that can block unwanted messaged by blacklisting the sender's email address, certain words or the subject of the mail. Although the antispam utilities are well-developed, the majority of the spammers are sending messages from different addresses, subjects or words so it's impossible to block all of them.

The authorities from all around the world are fighting against spammers but often, it is hard to identify the sender of spam message because their protections are optimized for a high-security level. The latest case was reported in Korea where two programmers sent almost 1.6 billion spam messages between September and December 2006 and obtained personal information from about 12.000 affected customers.

"South Korea was revealed in Sophos's recent security report as the third-worst nation in the world for relaying spam, and the authorities should be congratulated for cracking down on spammers based in the country. Spammers are battering inboxes in their attempt to make fast money, sell fake goods, and - in the worst cases - steal identities," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos according to an article posted on the official website.

This is not the first case when spammers might be sent to prison because "in May 2006, South Korean authorities arrested a man suspected of running a network of zombie computers alleged to have sent 18 million spam messages a day," as Sophos also mentions.

So, it's quite obvious that no user on the internet is 100 percent secure against spam messages, not even if he uses an antispam application because the ways for sending unwanted emails are more numerous every day.