'P' is for spam?
Published: 23 May 2003 16:19 BST
Trend Micro's anti-spam software recently took issue with the letter "P."
A bug, which appeared in an anti-spam rule update, began blocking and quarantining all incoming and outgoing messages containing the letter "P," depending on how customers had configured the software. The flaw affected a Trend Micro product designed to filter content, block unsolicited commercial email, and report and monitor the type of information that enters or leaves a company's network.
The problem affected Trend Micro's eManager product, an email security product. A company representative said the number of customers who reported being affected was in the low double digits.
The problem occurred in rule No. 915, which updates ant-ispam parameters. The security firm quickly released a fix with rule No. 916 and posted it to its Web site on Tuesday. Rule No. 915 was available for only an hour and a half before Trend Micro issued rule No. 916.
Spam is considered one of the biggest drawbacks of Internet communications, wreaking havoc on computer users and on Internet service providers whose systems are inundated by messages. In effect, spam depreciates the value of email by flooding it with an enormous volume of pornographic and get-rich-quick solicitations.
Anti-spam rules are updated frequently to keep pace with spammers who routinely fool filters by tweaking the contents, addresses and subject lines of their messages.
Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.
Did you find this article useful?
25 out of 65 people found this useful
Digg
Slashdot
Del.ici.ous
Stumble
Reddit
