PDF Spam On the Rise

Recently, the amount of spam hitting inboxes has stayed relatively steady, but according to Symantec (an internet security firm based out of Cupertino, CA), the tactics used by spammers is changing.

Spammers are shifting from image-embedded emails to PDF-attached emails, duping many – especially those checking their email through business-related accounts. PDF spam now makes up two to eight percent of all spam.

The nuisance of spam will never go away. It’s incorporating of other file types besides PDFs too, such as zip files and Excel files, which will only increase the amount of confusion on what emails, are “safe” to open for the general public.

The only surefire way to stop spam dead in its tracks is for users to hotly embrace the use of whitelists and address books.

Read more here.