Today, I've been working on something I call the malware tree.

click the image to enlarge

Basically, I'm trying to depict all forms of malware in a hierarchical diagram. Thoughts? What am I missing?

Munir Kotadia: Botnets are groups of computers that have been infected by malware that allows the author to control the infected PCs, and then typically use them to send spam or launch DDoS attacks. [cut] According to Kaspersky, organized criminals are advertising networks of zombie computers [botnets] for rent on underground newsgroups and Web pages.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5719765.html

Wagnerblog: I just ran a maintenance query on the database of my blog to remove trackback spam entries. It came back telling me "6,875 records deleted." Can you believe it? This is the activity of 6-8 weeks of crap being dumped on my site. Yuck!

http://wagnerblog.com/index.php?p=447

David Utter: According to MosNews, the reviled spammer met his end after bringing home three women from a club.

Randy: It was previously believed that Kushnir was killed by an anti-SPAM gang. It's now believe, it was a simple robbery gone bad.

Alan Dennis: It looks like the most recent version of WordPress has solved the dilemna of Comment Spam, at least for the time being.

http://www.braindonut.com/?p=88

TRUSTe: The TRUSTe Email Privacy Program is designed to allow companies willing to abide by strict standards for commercial email to demonstrate their commitment by posting the TRUSTe “We Don’t Spam” seal on Web pages where they collect email addresses.

http://www.truste.org/sealholders/faq_email_privacy_seal.php

Ryan Hale: I've been looking for a solution [to comment spam in Manilla] and finally came across myCommentSpamBuddy from Dave Winer for Manila websites.  I really like it as you simply enter a keyword - say, "texasholdem" - or something like that and the script looks through every message in a Manila website and deletes those that include that phrase. 

http://www.ryanjhale.com/2005/07/25#a985 

Randy: A comment SPAM plug-in for Manilla Websites.

QDB: I have figured out a way to cut email spam in half. Instead of "Make your penis larger" and "Lose 20 pounds", we can just have "Redistribute your weight".

http://bash.org/?75838

Martin J. Garvey: New security vulnerabilities discovered or reported during the second quarter were 20% higher than those found in the second quarter of last year. [cut] There were 422 new vulnerabilities, including viruses, spam, worms, and spyware, between April and June.

http://www.systemsmanagementpipeline.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=166402310

It would seem the SPAMmers have found a way to seek revenge against Microsoft's recent SPAM-related lawsuits and their SenderID program. They are using the long dead Microsoft-Claria rumours to start a campaign against SenderID. In the last few hours, I've received at least four copies of Ray Everett-Church's article on Microsoft-Claria-SenderID in my Inbox. Yes, they are SPAMming people with an article that suggests that Microsoft is getting soft on SPAM. I wonder if the author or JupiterWeb is involved or is aware.

http://www.esecurityplanet.com/views/article.php/3520931

PC-Help: The URL (Universal Resource Locator) of the [referenced] page [cut] is http://www.pc-help.org/obscure.htm. It is also http://3468664375@3468664375/o%62s%63ur%65%2e%68t%6D. Go ahead and click on that link. It'll take you right back to [the] very [same] page.

Randy: Well, it use to take you to the same page, but his IP address changed. That said, a great article on URL obfuscation.

AP: The nation's largest direct marketing group has set up a registry to remove dead people from its phone, e-mail and direct mail lists -- for a one-dollar charge.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/newsisfree/newscat57?m=38186

NetworkWorld: Who knew Spain was a spammer's paradise? Apparently the feds, who in conjunction with Spanish police arrested 310 people in Malaga, Spain, in connection with a $124 million bogus e-mail lottery scam run by Nigerian gangs.

http://www.networkworld.com/weblogs/layer8/009551.html

Aunty-SPAM: In a victory for the little guy, Joe Jared of Osirusoft, a DNSBL (DNS Block List, although many call them blacklists - not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you), has been exhonerated by a California court when the judge ruled that he was in his rights when he added the IP addresses belonging to Pallorium.com to his Osirusoft anti-spam blocking list.

Read more.

About: Spamhaus claims that evidence indicates Soloway was hijacking zombie PCs to relay spam "for his (now suspended) 'broadcastadvertise.net' spam service."

http://antivirus.about.com/b/a/186972.htm

Google: If your Google search returns a result that you suspect is spam, please let us know using this form.

http://www.google.com/contact/spamreport.html

Anti-Spammer: After the third time I got these spam messages I managed to hack into their management system and deleted their entire database.

Reuters: Five pornography companies have agreed to pay $1.16 million in fines for sending "spam" e-mail without a warning that it contains sexually explicit material, U.S. regulators said on Wednesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050720/us_nm/tech_spam_dc_5

Bibi: I hate online poker, cassinos, porn movies, viagra, penis enlargement or any other kind of spam on my comments, trackbacks or email.

Randy: Here's a thought. We should blacklist all the online poker/casino that are promoted with SPAM.

I sent a feature request to LinkedIn to add a button to break a connection on their network. I couldn't believe they didn't already have such a feature, but currently they require you to send them an email to break a connection. They replied, "I will escalate your comments to our Product Group." It's a start.

http://www.spamusement.com/

Randy: And I'm gonna have fun while I destroy these SPAMmers.

ComputerBusinessReviewOnline: Blue Security Inc has come up with a novel twist on the do-not-call registry to fight spam that seems to address many of the problems inherent to previous attempts.

Chris Fillius: I have turned off comments for the Searchlounge because of the obscene amount of spam I’m getting. [cut] I get email spam, search engine spam, blog comment spam. What’s next, tagging spam? I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.

Randy: Tagging SPAM, a.k.a tag SPAM or folksonomy SPAM has long started. But don't worry, I'm making it my mission to turn the tables on SPAMmers.