Are the estimated costs to businesses worldwide due to spam. An estimate of the impact of spam on worldwide businesses is hugely difficult task, and even if do not accept this number as 100% accurate and substantiated, it certainly is close to the true cost of fighting spam.

[Via SpamBlog]

IT News reports that phishers are gradually switching their target - from large banks and organizations such as Wells Fargo, eBay, etc. they are moving to smaller banks which are less prepared to handle a phish attack on their customers. With the creation of many anti-phishing consortiums by many of the large institutions involved in the anti-phishing battle, there are many tools and systems to prevent phishing attacks on the major players. However, small banks are often left  unprotected and this is what phishers are exploiting.

"(The latest trend) could mean the counter-phishing
systems that big banks have deployed are effective and the Phishers are
moving onto softer targets," APWG [Anti-Phishing Working Group] Chairman David Jevans said in a
statement.

[Via iT News, Australia -]

Despite efforts by Microsoft to provide a free anti-spyware tool, US Congress has stepping up its efforts to pass some legislation controlling the spread of spyware. eWeek reports that there are two opposing anti-spyware bills currently on the floor of Congress after persistent lobbying by the tech industry. Opponents of this legislation argue that it may outlaw legitimate uses of downloadable software, such as security patches. Of course, opponents may also point to the weak effect of CAN SPAM Act of 2003 on the level of spam and argue that federal legislation of similar type is simply not effective.

[Via eWeek -]

Yes, email reliability is at risk. With phishing and spam at record high levels, many of the legitimate emails get caught in a spam filter, in a "JUNK" inbox, or just get lost among thousand of other messages received for a day in an unfiltered inbox. This poses a great problem for what is still the "killer-app" of the Internet - email. Often people send an email, and then they have to follow-up with a call to make sure that the recipient received it. Doesn’t that beat the purpose of the email as a single and reliable line of communication?

Spam and spam-fighting have “in some cases eroded the reliability of
the mail system,” said Eric Allman, chief technology officer of
leading e-mail software vendor Sendmail Inc. “Now a
lot of mail gets filtered out.”

Even if the spam-filters admit that not all mail gets through, we have a problem on our hands.

[Via Tampa Tribune, FL -]

More fallout from the ChoicePoint’s breach from few weeks ago. This article tells the story of a retired personal banker from California who received a notification letter from ChoicePoint that his information has been stolen and his efforts to try to prevent identity thieves from rerouting his mail, opening new accounts, or committing crimes under his name. The article also talks how creating huge databases of personal information creates huge risks for millions of unsuspecting consumers.

The "databasification" of information — Internet-connected computer
servers that store billions of pieces of information on almost every
American — has made it ever easier for thieves to make purchases using
personal information stolen from the elderly and the deceased — or
even to clone someone else’s identity and live and work under it.

[Via OregonLive.com, OR -]