I received a spam e-mail today, and it was snowing. No, really, the image was an animated .gif, which looked just like that cheesy Outlook template everyone insists on using round Christmas.

This surprised me because it was the first non-static spam I got, so I guess this is the new way for spammers to bypass filters. Also, I think we will be seeing more of these from now on.

Scott Berinato from Computerworld thinks animated spam is just the first instance of multimedial unsolicited e-mail:

"Some companies have started to update their spam filter engines to try to better control image spam, but companies should have no illusions about such reactive measures controlling the problem. New fronts in the fight--new spam delivery methods, like Google alert feeds and audio and video formats--are ahead."

As Scott sees it, anti-spam filters will get new definitions on regular basis, much like our anti-virus software.

Until then, stay alert, because spam is also becoming one of the favorite ways for malicious attackers to spread adware, viruses and worms.