7: Email Spam Questions

explain phishing vs spear phishing

• phishing: spray and pray approach etc

• spear phishing: targeted approach, etc

why is spam bad for business

• can lower credibility even if not associated (e.g., bast buy)

• costs a lot of money

• IT costs passed down to customers (e.g., tuition)

what is domain spoofing?

• using identical letters from other alphabets in unicode to make a domain appear legit

why do people buy fake followers?

• can influence politics, make a business appear more popular and established, help for brand deals etc

what are the most common spam phishing attacks?

• most common tactic was fake invoices, then malware disguised as attached docs

why did spam cost canada so much per year before 2010?

• before 2010, canada was only G8 country without anti-spam legislation

how is spam created?

• infect computers with malware, use them as botnets to send out spam

• emails can be bought for cheap, or you can harvest them from websites, news groups, etc

what are 3 ways to combat spam?

• protection, policies, law

what are some technology ways to combat spam

• IP blacklisting, IP throttling, challenge/response Qs, CAPTCHAs

what is PIPEDA?

• act that increases data privacy for canadians

• all private info collected can only be used for the purpose told to the consumer, and can’t be disclosed to 3rd parties without user knowledge (but can be disclosed to law)

• ensures the organization adheres to this, protects up-to-date data

• ensures the public knows why data is collected or used, can contact representatives to talk about their data, can access personal info, can complain in cases where it is not respected

what is the anti-spam regulation action plan?

• canada task force to tackle spam

• goal: bring together multiple parties to address and respond to spam

• connects PIPEDA, the CC, and the competition act

• makes sure businesses adhere to PIPEDA, makes sure spam with malware used to access a computer without knowledge is a charged offender, makes sure that spam (which is treated as advertising) deals with deceptive or misleading info

What is Bill C-28?

• deals with commercial activity, marketers can only send emails to those who’ve consented to opt in to receiving digital communications, and fines spammers who don’t follow protocols

• s.7: consumers must be given opt out option

• s.8: can’t give you other stuff unless you’ve consented, can’t send personal info to other destinations unless specified by user

• s.9: cannot get you to install program that sends messages from your computer unless you’ve consented