--- Reply-To: <etzinberg@private> From: "Emily Tzinberg" <etzinberg@private> Subject: Spammers Seize Janet Jackson for Latest E-mail Appeals Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2004 10:04:27 -0500 SurfControl, the world's number one Web and e-mail filtering company, today noted a predictable upswing in the amount of spam capitalizing on the recent Janet Jackson scandal. The company warns IT managers to adjust their spam filters to block these new spam messages, which redirect recipients to adult-oriented Web sites. For information about this and other recent changes in spam content, please contact me. Tom Murphy Ignition Strategic Communications (202) 339-0111, ext. 103 tmurphy@private ________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACTS: Christina Frey, SurfControl 831.440.2629 christina.frey@private Pam Small, Ignition Strategic Communications 202.339.0111 psmall@private SPAMMERS SEIZE JANET JACKSON FOR LATEST E-MAIL COME-ON SurfControl Researchers Note Flurry of Spam E-Mails Using Janet Jackson's Name to Lure Recipients to Pornographic Websites SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., (February 6, 2004) - The Global Content Team at SurfControl (LondonSRF), the world's number one Web and e-mail filtering company, today noted a predictable upswing in the amount of spam making hay from the Janet Jackson scandal. Researchers have noted throughout the week an increase in spam carrying the subject lines designed to capitalize on the scandal that involved pop star Justin Timberlake tearing the front of Jackson's costume. The most popular subject lines include: "Latest Janet Jackson nude pictures," "Exposed Janet Jackson hardcore pictures and videos," "Checkout Janet J, she's so hot here," "Janet J pic and vids of her available now," and the more creative, "Janet J nipple slipple." All the spam identified to date pointed recipients to a Web site with pictures of nude celebrities selling pictures and videos of the Jackson incident during the Super Bowl half-time show last Sunday. "Most of this spam seems to be coming from a single spammer at the moment, but our experience suggests that there's much more to come," said Susan Larson, SurfControl's vice president of Global Content. "But since the pictures are so easy to obtain, Janet Jackson may not have the staying power among spammers of Paris Hilton. You can be sure we'll keep abreast of the trend." On a more serious note, SurfControl reminded IT administrators that e-mail filtering can substantially reduce the risk to employees using e-mail at work by stopping spam messages before they enter the corporate network. Companies using SurfControl E-mail Filter can immediately block spam using the company's unique Anti-Spam Agent database of more than 100,000 digital spam "fingerprints." They also can rely on SurfControl's own multi-layer technology that uses lexical analysis based on advanced Boolean logic, to build or update accurate spam-identifying rules and dictionaries. SurfControl's E-mail Filter also allows companies to add, edit or delete words, phrases and alphanumeric patterns to construct rules that identify spam that may be particular to the individual company or industry. The technology stops spam messages from ever reaching the end user and should be backed up with some basic e-mail user education. About SurfControl SurfControl plc, the world's number one Web and e-mail filtering company, delivers on its promise to help companies 'Stop Unwanted Content' in the workplace by continuous innovation, invention and expansion of its filtering products to address new content risks as they emerge. The company is the leader in the Content Security market, which analysts expect to reach nearly $2 billion by 2007. SurfControl is the only company in the security market offering a total content security solution that combines Web, E-mail (including Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus) and Instant Message Filters with the industry's largest, most accurate and relevant content database and adaptive reasoning tools to automate content recognition. SurfControl's world-class partners include Sun Microsystems, Check Point, Cisco, IBM, Research In Motion and Nokia. The company has more than 20,000 customers worldwide, including many of the world's largest corporations, and employs nearly 450 people in nine separate locations across the United States, Europe and Asia/Pacific. For further information and news on SurfControl, please visit http://www.surfcontrol.com/. ### _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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