All spam comes from zombie computers

Filed in archive Spam News on April 3, 2007

Remember when I wrote about cleaning up a zombie computer? Well, a recent article written by Kim Carney for The Red Tape Chronicles reminded me how easy it is to get your computer hijacked.

"Individual bots operate in complete silence, but we all see their handiwork. At this point, almost every spam e-mail is sent from a hijacked computer, according to Uriel Maimon, a researcher at security firm RSA. That means every time you receive a spam, a hijacked computer is at the other end.
No one knows how many infected bots there are, but there is little argument that millions of computers have been herded. If your computer isn't infected, security experts say, certainly someone on your block is part of a bot army."

While security experts estimate that one out of every ten computers with internet access is a zombie, internet crooks devise even sneakier ways to bypass any counter-measures ISP's may devise.

The only wise thing to do is to protect your computer from possible infiltration. That means, as always: update your operating system, as well as your anti-virus software, don't open e-mail attachments, don't click on links and stay away from suspicious websites.