In the constantly changing email security environment, spammers never slack off in creating new ways to bypass filters and fill your inboxes with junk. In this post, we’re going to take a close look at a spam campaign from earlier this month to learn how versatile today’s spammers truly are and highlight the potential for effectiveness that our spam-blocking service offers.
We’ve seen a rather fun spam attack in the last 24 hours.
From this one site, we received eight styles of spam emails:
- Spam 1 – Costco phishing attempts
- Spam 2 – Solar panel product promotions
- Spam 3 & 4 – Portable translation device advertisements (two variations)
- Spam 5 – Leather holsters for concealed carry
- Spam 6 – “Miracle” healing plant promotions
- Spam 7 – Tea promising instant indigestion relief
- Spam 8 – A rather amusing “fat-burning fried foods cookbook”
This variation is just indicative of how flexible one spammer can be to hit different interests and vulnerabilities. Traditional spam filters have difficulty catching up.
Our Adaptive Spam-Blocking Logic
The most important thing learned from this campaign is how well our spam-blocking service worked. Although these emails were quite varied in nature, all of the variations were blocked using only one advanced spam-blocking logic. It is not dependent on some common identifying factors such as:
- Sender IP addresses
- URLs within the emails
- Subject lines
Instead, the system uses advanced algorithms to recognise spam patterns, so that even the most diversified campaigns from a single source can be caught.
Steady Flow, Steady Block
What was most interesting about this spam campaign, however, was the uniformity. For 12 hours—from 8 PM to 8 AM UTC—we’ve seen a steady stream of approximately 2,740 spam emails, each firing off at 30-minute intervals. At this point alone, even with the varying topics, there is little doubt that these were all part of the same campaign.
By the Numbers
- Total emails blocked in 24 hours: ~ 210,000
- Initial sending rate: 2,740 emails per 30 minutes
- Peak sending rate: 16,700 emails per 30 minutes
From 2,740 to 16,700 emails per 30 minute – such a giant increase in the send rate – is an excellent example of how a spam campaign can easily scale up, arguing in favor of reliable, elastic spam protection.
Red Flags and Spammer Tactics
As we always say, the unsubscribe links in spam messages should actually not be clicked on. In this campaign, there were a few notes of interest:
- All the unsubscribe links were actually fake and dangerous
- Four of the email specimens contained two separate “unsubscribe” footer sections, the information content of each being irreconcilable with the other
- Spam email 3 and 4 were practically the same, except for their headings – a typical use of spammers to send duplicate emails, hoping that one will bypass the block.
Here you can see an instance in which advanced solutions of adaptive spam-blocking are required. Our service stayed a step ahead of the spammers, protecting mailboxes from a myriad of danger vectors.
Data443’s Cyren Email Security solution provides very advanced protection against most email-based threats, including spam, phishing, malware, and ransomware. State-of-the-art technologies utilized by the solution include AI-powered virus outbreak detection, which analyzes threats in real time to proactively defend against zero-day threats. It allows for multi-layered protection of Cyren by Data443 to block earlier in the attack process without breaching data privacy.
Inbound and outbound spam protection is possible through the system while creating custom outbound spam policies of individual users, groups, or even domains.
In addition, Data443 is easily integrated with one-click install and deploy and hosted SMTP/Office365 options for seamless implementation. This comprehensive approach protects the inbox from evolving email threats and maintains a strong security posture for businesses.
Keep in mind that, for email security, vigilance and robust protection are required to keep your inbox clean and safe.
There’s more to come in email security and spam prevention!