Researchers: Image spam is on the rise again

In a blog post last week, researchers from IBM noted a sharp spike in the amount of image spam that has been disseminated since the last week in April. Based on their analysis, the properties of this newly-introduced image spam appear to be pretty standard, with no new techniques to evade spam filters since the height of image spam in 2006 and 2007.

As a result, the researchers have acknowledged that most anti-spam filters should be able to block this new influx of spam.

So what gives here? Are spammers out of ideas and forced to rehash old techniques? "Maybe," suggested the researchers. Of course, the concern now would be whether PDF and MP3 spam will experience a resurgence with spammers. Personally, I think the possibility exists--on the PDF front at least. It would hardly be surprising, given the number of vulnerabilities uncovered lately in the popular Adobe Reader software.

Another observation made by the researchers is how the current deluge of image spam focuses on drugs. This is in contrast to the financial products widely touted a couple of years ago, and is likely a direct result of the weak financial markets. After all, it would be easier to hoodwink gullible folks into coughing up their money for drugs of dubious origin and quality, than it would be to put money into the stock market wouldn't it?

For more on this story:
- check out this article at Frequency X Blog
- check out this article at PC World

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