Unwanted messages threaten Internet users
Oct 20, 2004
A new plague of unwanted messages threatens Internet users, the New Scientist magazine recently reported, citing the
A new plague of unwanted messages threatens Internet users, the New Scientist magazine recently reported, citing the Maryland-based company Qovia.
According to the report, besides spam arriving by instant messenger, a new danger is posed by “spit†- or spam over Internet telephony. Qovia has filed two patent applications for technology to thwart spit.
Internet telephony involves making phone calls using the Internet instead of traditional phone lines. Also known as voice-over IP (VoIP), it is rapidly rising in popularity, thanks to the fact that Internet connections are becoming faster, and because it is cheap - it avoids the taxes levied on landline calls.
VoIP uses Internet protocols to send information, meaning one message can easily be sent to thousands of recipients.
Qovia thinks this means the technology is likely to appeal to spammers.
The company ran a simulation showing that a computer could be programmed to send 1,000 messages per minute over VoIP.
Winn Schwartau, an electronic security consultant for InterPact in Seminole, Florida, warns that voice-mail boxes could become clogged with salacious and bogus advertising messages, just like our email inboxes are today.
Denial-of-service attacks launched by armies of automated “spam-bots†could tie up targeted customers phone lines constantly, he says.
So far, there have been no documented cases of spit. But Schwartau says this is just because there are not yet enough VoIP users to make it worthwhile.
“Spam became popular because there was a big enough target audience,†he told New Scientist magazine.
According to the report, besides spam arriving by instant messenger, a new danger is posed by “spit†- or spam over Internet telephony. Qovia has filed two patent applications for technology to thwart spit.
Internet telephony involves making phone calls using the Internet instead of traditional phone lines. Also known as voice-over IP (VoIP), it is rapidly rising in popularity, thanks to the fact that Internet connections are becoming faster, and because it is cheap - it avoids the taxes levied on landline calls.
VoIP uses Internet protocols to send information, meaning one message can easily be sent to thousands of recipients.
Qovia thinks this means the technology is likely to appeal to spammers.
The company ran a simulation showing that a computer could be programmed to send 1,000 messages per minute over VoIP.
Winn Schwartau, an electronic security consultant for InterPact in Seminole, Florida, warns that voice-mail boxes could become clogged with salacious and bogus advertising messages, just like our email inboxes are today.
Denial-of-service attacks launched by armies of automated “spam-bots†could tie up targeted customers phone lines constantly, he says.
So far, there have been no documented cases of spit. But Schwartau says this is just because there are not yet enough VoIP users to make it worthwhile.
“Spam became popular because there was a big enough target audience,†he told New Scientist magazine.