Volunteers to just say yes to spam

Stan Beer
Monday, 31 March 2008 18:07

Your IT - Home IT

Imagine actually choosing to live on a diet of email spam for 30 days, with no computer security, and simply replying to and particpating in every offer that arrives in your inbox that takes your fancy. That's exactly what 50 volunteers from around the world intend to do in an attempt to demonstrate the devastating consequences that spam can have for the unsuspecting user.

Security software vendor McAfee has launched its global S.P.A.M. (Spammed Persistently All Month) Experiment. For 30 days, participants from around the world – ranging from homemakers, government executives, and students to retirees – will surf the Web, make online purchases and register for promotions.  Participants have been provided with a clean laptop without spam protection and a new email address.  Beginning 1 April 2008, they will blog about their experiences daily at www.mcafeespamexperiment.com.

S.P.A.M. Experiment participants are from ten countries spanning the globe, including Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

With a proven link between spam and cybercrime, the experiment aims to show the devastating effects of spam.

“Spam isn’t just a nuisance.  It’s a tool used by cyber criminals to steal personal and business data,” said Christopher Bolin, chief technology officer for McAfee. “And, as scammers become more adept at writing spam in local languages it’s becoming more difficult for Internet users to detect spam. It’s vital that computer users understand the risks of leaving their computers unprotected.”

Cybercriminals use spam to take control of millions of compromised computers around the world.  Spam emails entice individuals at work and at home to handover sensitive information – and even cash – to criminals.

“Cybercrime won’t go away without solving the problem of spam,” said Dave DeWalt, chief executive officer for McAfee. “This experiment will raise awareness of the problem by showing that a 30-day diet of spam is bad for your online health.”