Curiosity Killed the Cat

A recent survey reported on by CNET Security writer Lance Whitney, asked the question: “Hey, Why do people respond to Spam?” The response from almost a third of the consumers admitted to responding to a message they suspected to be spam. They also reported that about 80 percent doubted their computers were at risk of ever being infected malware that might be capable of causing other damage without their knowledge. The study is based on interviews with 800 computer users in the U.S. and Canada who said they were not "security experts" and who used e-mail addresses not managed by an IT department.

The results are pretty scary and I hope that bringing this to your attention will remind you to be careful of the dangers you face when viewing and responding to unsolicited and unknown email senders. If you are interested in reading the 60-page survey, it is available at no cost on the MAAWG Web site, www.MAAWG.org. Look for the paper entitled: "A Look at Consumers' Awareness of Email Security and Practices or 'Of Course I Never Reply to Spam, Except Sometimes'"

About the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG)

The Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) is where the messaging industry comes together to work against spam, viruses, denial-of-service attacks and other online exploitation. MAAWG (www.MAAWG.org) represents almost one billion mailboxes from some of the largest network operators worldwide. It is the only organization addressing messaging abuse holistically by systematically engaging all aspects of the problem, including technology, industry collaboration and public policy. MAAWG leverages the depth and experience of its global membership to tackle abuse on existing networks and new emerging services. Headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., MAAWG is an open forum driven by market needs and supported by major network operators and messaging providers.