European Authorities Serious on Spam By Jay Lyman
May 27, 2004 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — With a bust of text-message type spamming by the UK’s ICSTIS, the nabbing of a number of suspected virus writers in Germany and enforcement of last year’s spamming legislation, it appears that Europe is slicing into spam with the teeth of its existing legislation.
This is good news, since the surge of spam currently inundating US service providers and users is likely to make its way to the UK and the rest of Europe in the next six months, says Message Labs chief information security analyst Paul Wood.
“I think that’s inevitable,” Wood said, referring to current spam rates of 80 percent of all email in the US and 50 percent in the UK. “Based on historical trends, the UK is six months or so behind. The UK can expect equivalent levels of spam.”
Legislation to lower the level of spam in the US is widely seen as a failure, but regardless of whether Europe responds with a more learned, less legislated approach, the European privacy and data disclosure laws may already put European companies and users in a better position.
“I think the legislation within the states is very different in the way it’s been constructed and in the way it’s been designed,” says Wood. “In Europe, there is strong data protection and control of the use of information. In the states, there isn’t much in the way of data protection legislation, except in the case of health care.”
New York-based consultancy Basex chief analyst Jonathan Spira agrees, saying that Europe’s tight usage and privacy laws are not the only difference between Europe and the US.
“How European companies use information is very different from how US companies use information,” Spira says.
The analyst, whose firm blames spam for $20 billion in lost productivity and other costs each year, says that despite Europe’s stronger privacy and data disclosure protections, the governments cannot stem spam with laws.
“Just as we can’t legislate it away here, mostly because it’s coming from offshore, they can’t legislate it away there,” Spira says. “If it’s coming from China, that just doesn’t make sense. If they take any lesson, they won’t attempt to legislate (for spam). It’s futile.”
Spira estimates that Europe is getting slightly less spam than the US, mainly because there is relatively little “internal cause.”
“If you violate European privacy laws, it’s quite serious,” Spira adds.
Evidence of the seriousness could be seen in the recent bust by the ICSTIS, a UK regulatory body which fined six companies £450,000 and banned them from British operation for a text messaging spam scam that involved soliciting callbacks for exorbitant fees.
Internet service providers have also been getting tougher on spam and viruses, which are increasingly spreading hand-in-hand, as companies such as 1&1 Internet assist law enforcement officials in finding suspects. 1&1 reported it provided significant assistance to German authorities in tracking and apprehending the alleged Phatbot perpetrator.
Message Labs’ Wood, who referred to the armies of compromised computers used increasingly to send or spoof spam, sasy spammers are also being aided by easily downloadable tools and components that are helping them hide IP addresses, fake reply addresses and get past filters.
Wood says the tools tout they make the unsolicited email “CANSpam legal,” and indicates that another spam stimulus is the approach in China, where one spammer to one server has now been replaced by spammers with server farms that are used for reselling.
“We’re seeing a lot of spam being generated as a result,” he says.
Wood also says that because of the indiscriminate nature of spam, many messages intended for, or created in, the US are likely to wind up in Europe.
“It seems to be going everywhere,” he said.
Wood refers to a slight dip in US spam that followed the enacting of the CANSpam Act and said it appeared the legislation did discourage some spammers, but the decline could also be caused by the spammer search for ways around the laws or “dressing it up to appear CANSpam compliant.”
“With legislation, the impact is short-lived,” Wood says.
Wood also says despite better legal protection from having their information disclosed, shared or sold, Europeans suffer from some jurisdictional confusion over anti-spam enforcement efforts simply because of the number of geographical boundaries.
“The spam problem in general is not as bad [as in the US], but that doesn’t mean it’s not necessarily going to get worse,” Wood adds. “The US itself is seeing by far the worst problem in terms of spam. It may increase, and that’s a worrying sign.”
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