Google Docs were Used in Recent Spam Run

The spam experts have found the latest wave of unsolicited messages that use word processor of Google and test the effectiveness of their campaigns with the help of analytical tools of Google, as reported by SearchSecurity on May 15, 2008.

Matt Sergeant, Spokesperson of MessageLabs, said that the messages surpass the e-mail filters of most enterprises very easily and successfully. Further, the messages don't have any kind of content; they contain a link which takes users to Docs file of Google. As the link opens, advertisements on all the known pharmaceuticals brands hyped in earlier spam campaigns come up, as reported by SearchSecurity on May 15, 2008.

Matt said that it is yet another way of a Website hosting at a place that is bulletproof spammers have recently employed.

Also, as per the news, Google has already labeled the file as a registered spam. And, as explained by security research firm, spam is spread across Internet with several copies of the same message in order to force the message on users who prefer not to opt for it.

Security vendors also added that spam costs less expensive to sender. Rather the recipients or carriers cover for most of the costs. Further, the spam researchers also added that there are almost two leading kinds of spam, and they have different results on the users of Internet.

Significantly, Matt explains that the recent spam, which has been documented by security research, has been discovered that the Google Docs are still in their starting phase. So, there are not much people who use them for commercial or corporate..

MessageLabs also added that although the number of spam has appeared in small quantity, it is large enough to caution a security vendor company.

Besides the recent Google spam run conducted by MessageLabs, the security vendor in February 2008 complained of specific Trojan attacks, which as per them, expanded to almost 30 per day, an increase of around 200% from the end of 2007. MessageLabs also said that the attacks are especially towards small number of targets in each case, thus, keeping under the radar of the wider security industry.

Related article: Google Rectifies Gmail flaw in Three Days

» SPAMfighter News - 5/23/2008