Strathclyde Associates Construction – Contractor Scams: How to Avoid “Rent-a-Creep” Schemes
Strathclyde Associates Management Construction Company: Every summer, Scambuster Pete is approached by contractor scammers three or four times. ...
Monday, October 3, 2011
Strathclyde Associates Advice on Health & Wellness: Harvard Study: Women May Have Higher Risk of Stroke
Women who consider antidepressants possess something totally new to concern yourself with: They are often at increased risk of creating a heart stroke, Harvard scientists point out.
A study published Thursday night inside Heart stroke: Log of the United states Center Association accounts that girls with a reputation despression symptoms use a 29% the upper chances of experiencing any heart stroke compared to non-depressed ladies, and people who consider antidepressants, especially discerning serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or perhaps SSRIs (for example Prozac or even Zoloft), encounter any 39% higher risk.
“Depression has already been connected to heart stroke in addition to heart problems in general,Inches states internist Kathryn Rexrode, affiliate mentor of medication from Harvard Med school, the study’s older writer. But “these are usually modest elevations in danger,Inches your woman states, and may not necessarily guide females to prevent getting antidepressants.
“Although we found women who took antidepressants had been at and the higher chances, I do not have got anything to show it is because from the medications,” she states.
Use of mao inhibitors probably signifies more serious depression, claims guide specialist A great Griddle from the Harvard School of Open public Wellness, and also depressive disorders continues to be connected to stroke risk aspects including high blood pressure levels, diabetic issues, cardiovascular disease, cigarette smoking and also physical a sedentary lifestyle.
The analysis adopted Eighty,574 women age groups Fifty four in order to 79 who are area of the Nurses’ Wellness Examine. Researchers examined participants’ symptoms of despression symptoms, usage of antidepressants and determines associated with depressive disorders by doctors from The year 2000 to be able to 2007. At the start, 22% with the ladies documented actually having depression, just like the countrywide incidence associated with 20% ladies. During the period of the study, there were One,033 cerebrovascular accident instances.
The actual conclusions may well not connect with males, Skillet claims. Depressive disorders is twice as most likely in females as in men; reasons for the main difference are usually unfamiliar.
The study is important because it draws a web link between cerebrovascular accident threat along with a history of depression, says Philip Gorelick, director with the Center with regard to Stroke Investigation at the School of Il University of Medicine with Chicago, who had been not active in the research. “This connection may be thought for some time, but hasn’t received the research and interest which it may are worthy of.Inch
Stroke is the next top cause of dying in the USA, after cardiovascular disease and cancer, and it strikes 425,000 women annually, Fifty-five,500 a lot more than males, the National Heart stroke Organization states. To lessen chance of heart stroke, Griddle claims, ladies will make alterations in behavior – give up smoking, have a healthier eating habits, exercise : and assist doctors to manage diabetic issues and blood pressure. If you might be stressed out, he states, talk to a doctor to see whether treatment solutions are required.
Strathclyde Associates News
Now that Google is only months away from unwrapping Ice Cream Sandwich, Android’s latest OS, leaks of it running on a Nexus popping out every now and then should be expected.
Screenshots were leaked by Android Police and RootzWiki which, as can be seen in one, shows Ice Cream Sandwich running in a Nexus S.
Reminiscent of the Honeycomb’s Tron, ICS looks like a blue-themed one, with icons on the notification bar like those ones on Gingerbread (sans the green color).
There’s an image showing what seemed to be the notification panel pulled all the way down and something for news and app notif as well.
RootzWiki also released details about the alleged specs of the Ice Cream Sandwich Nexus, though they have been vague about the ‘reliable source’. Looks like the new Android build will sport a blue theme, some ICS features, a built-in camera panoramic mode, task switching capabilities, app drawer, launcher and the good old Google search bar embedded on the top. It is also rumored that Google Shopper will be launched in this version while Gmail will be having a new theme.
For now, this will only be available on Nexus Prime (and then prolly Nexus S).
Some of those are really not shockers; we had been expecting Google Shopper to be connected to ICS seeing how Google is busy testing out their Wallet service.
The camera’s built-in panorama mode is an interesting one just because the default cam app in most Droids is not so remarkable. We only hope there are more functions or features that will be added.
Aside from that, there is nothing more to scrape. And we’re seeing a lot of black bars all over the leaked images, too.
What’s fishy here is the uncanny resemblance of the leak images to Gingerbread. Except for the neat blue theme and a quite different variation of glass launcher at the bottom part, it’s basically the same. For all we know, this could just be a custom theme installed on Gingerbread; which begs the question whether the leak is legit or just the work from trolls.
Hoping for the best, maybe it’s really an early version of ICS we have here. Remember the untimely shots of Android 2.3 that are so fuzzy you barely recognize a thing? Well, that turned out as a genuine one. We could only hope the same (or better) for Ice Cream Sandwich.
Screenshots were leaked by Android Police and RootzWiki which, as can be seen in one, shows Ice Cream Sandwich running in a Nexus S.
Reminiscent of the Honeycomb’s Tron, ICS looks like a blue-themed one, with icons on the notification bar like those ones on Gingerbread (sans the green color).
There’s an image showing what seemed to be the notification panel pulled all the way down and something for news and app notif as well.
RootzWiki also released details about the alleged specs of the Ice Cream Sandwich Nexus, though they have been vague about the ‘reliable source’. Looks like the new Android build will sport a blue theme, some ICS features, a built-in camera panoramic mode, task switching capabilities, app drawer, launcher and the good old Google search bar embedded on the top. It is also rumored that Google Shopper will be launched in this version while Gmail will be having a new theme.
For now, this will only be available on Nexus Prime (and then prolly Nexus S).
Some of those are really not shockers; we had been expecting Google Shopper to be connected to ICS seeing how Google is busy testing out their Wallet service.
The camera’s built-in panorama mode is an interesting one just because the default cam app in most Droids is not so remarkable. We only hope there are more functions or features that will be added.
Aside from that, there is nothing more to scrape. And we’re seeing a lot of black bars all over the leaked images, too.
What’s fishy here is the uncanny resemblance of the leak images to Gingerbread. Except for the neat blue theme and a quite different variation of glass launcher at the bottom part, it’s basically the same. For all we know, this could just be a custom theme installed on Gingerbread; which begs the question whether the leak is legit or just the work from trolls.
Hoping for the best, maybe it’s really an early version of ICS we have here. Remember the untimely shots of Android 2.3 that are so fuzzy you barely recognize a thing? Well, that turned out as a genuine one. We could only hope the same (or better) for Ice Cream Sandwich.
Strathclyde Associates Advice on Health & Wellness
Women who consider antidepressants possess something totally new to concern yourself with: They are often at increased risk of creating a heart stroke, Harvard scientists point out.
A study published Thursday night inside Heart stroke: Log of the United states Center Association accounts that girls with a reputation despression symptoms use a 29% the upper chances of experiencing any heart stroke compared to non-depressed ladies, and people who consider antidepressants, especially discerning serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or perhaps SSRIs (for example Prozac or even Zoloft), encounter any 39% higher risk.
“Depression has already been connected to heart stroke in addition to heart problems in general,Inches states internist Kathryn Rexrode, affiliate mentor of medication from Harvard Med school, the study’s older writer. But “these are usually modest elevations in danger,Inches your woman states, and may not necessarily guide females to prevent getting antidepressants.
“Although we found women who took antidepressants had been at and the higher chances, I do not have got anything to show it is because from the medications,” she states.
Use of mao inhibitors probably signifies more serious depression, claims guide specialist A great Griddle from the Harvard School of Open public Wellness, and also depressive disorders continues to be connected to stroke risk aspects including high blood pressure levels, diabetic issues, cardiovascular disease, cigarette smoking and also physical a sedentary lifestyle.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
About Strathclyde Associates Advice on Health & Wellness
This blog was created with one thing in mind: educating people on the importance of being healthy. Being a self-proclaimed fitness buff, I feel like it’s my responsibility to inform people of the do’s and dont’s in exercising, on what they don’t know about popular food items, and basically everything normal people find boring (which, incidentally, are the things that matter most).
I’ll be posting tips, news and developments concerning human health in here daily so you’ll have something new every time you visit. Let’s start living healthy!
Strathclyde Associates News ->Leaks of Android Ice Cream Sandwich Emerge
Now that Google is only months away from unwrapping Ice Cream Sandwich, Android’s latest OS, leaks of it running on a Nexus popping out every now and then should be expected.
Screenshots were leaked by Android Police and RootzWiki which, as can be seen in one, shows Ice Cream Sandwich running in a Nexus S.
Reminiscent of the Honeycomb’s Tron, ICS looks like a blue-themed one, with icons on the notification bar like those ones on Gingerbread (sans the green color).
There’s an image showing what seemed to be the notification panel pulled all the way down and something for news and app notif as well.
RootzWiki also released details about the alleged specs of the Ice Cream Sandwich Nexus, though they have been vague about the ‘reliable source’. Looks like the new Android build will sport a blue theme, some ICS features, a built-in camera panoramic mode, task switching capabilities, app drawer, launcher and the good old Google search bar embedded on the top. It is also rumored that Google Shopper will be launched in this version while Gmail will be having a new theme.
For now, this will only be available on Nexus Prime (and then prolly Nexus S).
Some of those are really not shockers; we had been expecting Google Shopper to be connected to ICS seeing how Google is busy testing out their Wallet service.
The camera’s built-in panorama mode is an interesting one just because the default cam app in most Droids is not so remarkable. We only hope there are more functions or features that will be added.
Aside from that, there is nothing more to scrape. And we’re seeing a lot of black bars all over the leaked images, too.
What’s fishy here is the uncanny resemblance of the leak images to Gingerbread. Except for the neat blue theme and a quite different variation of glass launcher at the bottom part, it’s basically the same. For all we know, this could just be a custom theme installed on Gingerbread; which begs the question whether the leak is legit or just the work from trolls.
Hoping for the best, maybe it’s really an early version of ICS we have here. Remember the untimely shots of Android 2.3 that are so fuzzy you barely recognize a thing? Well, that turned out as a genuine one. We could only hope the same (or better) for Ice Cream Sandwich.
About Us - Strathclyde Associates News
Growing up in a technologically-competent environment sure has its perks. Since grade school I’ve been tinkering the computers with floppy discs and playing super mario in DoS mode. So I pretty much grew up closely following every progress the technology industry make.
Now that the era of social networking in the Internet has dawned, it’s only natural that I take part in it. This blog is a quite reliable source material from anything that’s making the rounds in geek circles.
Strathclyde Associates Advice on Health & Wellness
Women who consider antidepressants possess something totally new to concern yourself with: They are often at increased risk of creating a heart stroke, Harvard scientists point out.
A study published Thursday night inside Heart stroke: Log of the United states Center Association accounts that girls with a reputation despression symptoms use a 29% the upper chances of experiencing any heart stroke compared to non-depressed ladies, and people who consider antidepressants, especially discerning serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or perhaps SSRIs (for example Prozac or even Zoloft), encounter any 39% higher risk.
“Depression has already been connected to heart stroke in addition to heart problems in general,Inches states internist Kathryn Rexrode, affiliate mentor of medication from Harvard Med school, the study’s older writer. But “these are usually modest elevations in danger,Inches your woman states, and may not necessarily guide females to prevent getting antidepressants.
“Although we found women who took antidepressants had been at and the higher chances, I do not have got anything to show it is because from the medications,” she states.
Use of mao inhibitors probably signifies more serious depression, claims guide specialist A great Griddle from the Harvard School of Open public Wellness, and also depressive disorders continues to be connected to stroke risk aspects including high blood pressure levels, diabetic issues, cardiovascular disease, cigarette smoking and also physical a sedentary lifestyle.
The analysis adopted Eighty,574 women age groups Fifty four in order to 79 who are area of the Nurses’ Wellness Examine. Researchers examined participants’ symptoms of despression symptoms, usage of antidepressants and determines associated with depressive disorders by doctors from The year 2000 to be able to 2007. At the start, 22% with the ladies documented actually having depression, just like the countrywide incidence associated with 20% ladies. During the period of the study, there were One,033 cerebrovascular accident instances.
The actual conclusions may well not connect with males, Skillet claims. Depressive disorders is twice as most likely in females as in men; reasons for the main difference are usually unfamiliar.
The study is important because it draws a web link between cerebrovascular accident threat along with a history of depression, says Philip Gorelick, director with the Center with regard to Stroke Investigation at the School of Il University of Medicine with Chicago, who had been not active in the research. “This connection may be thought for some time, but hasn’t received the research and interest which it may are worthy of.Inch
Stroke is the next top cause of dying in the USA, after cardiovascular disease and cancer, and it strikes 425,000 women annually, Fifty-five,500 a lot more than males, the National Heart stroke Organization states. To lessen chance of heart stroke, Griddle claims, ladies will make alterations in behavior – give up smoking, have a healthier eating habits, exercise : and assist doctors to manage diabetic issues and blood pressure. If you might be stressed out, he states, talk to a doctor to see whether treatment solutions are required.
Strathclyde Associates News
Now that Google is only months away from unwrapping Ice Cream Sandwich, Android’s latest OS, leaks of it running on a Nexus popping out every now and then should be expected.
Screenshots were leaked by Android Police and RootzWiki which, as can be seen in one, shows Ice Cream Sandwich running in a Nexus S.
Reminiscent of the Honeycomb’s Tron, ICS looks like a blue-themed one, with icons on the notification bar like those ones on Gingerbread (sans the green color).
There’s an image showing what seemed to be the notification panel pulled all the way down and something for news and app notif as well.
RootzWiki also released details about the alleged specs of the Ice Cream Sandwich Nexus, though they have been vague about the ‘reliable source’. Looks like the new Android build will sport a blue theme, some ICS features, a built-in camera panoramic mode, task switching capabilities, app drawer, launcher and the good old Google search bar embedded on the top. It is also rumored that Google Shopper will be launched in this version while Gmail will be having a new theme.
For now, this will only be available on Nexus Prime (and then prolly Nexus S).
Some of those are really not shockers; we had been expecting Google Shopper to be connected to ICS seeing how Google is busy testing out their Wallet service.
The camera’s built-in panorama mode is an interesting one just because the default cam app in most Droids is not so remarkable. We only hope there are more functions or features that will be added.
Aside from that, there is nothing more to scrape. And we’re seeing a lot of black bars all over the leaked images, too.
What’s fishy here is the uncanny resemblance of the leak images to Gingerbread. Except for the neat blue theme and a quite different variation of glass launcher at the bottom part, it’s basically the same. For all we know, this could just be a custom theme installed on Gingerbread; which begs the question whether the leak is legit or just the work from trolls.
Hoping for the best, maybe it’s really an early version of ICS we have here. Remember the untimely shots of Android 2.3 that are so fuzzy you barely recognize a thing? Well, that turned out as a genuine one. We could only hope the same (or better) for Ice Cream Sandwich.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Strathclyde Associates Boiler Room Info
Strathclyde Associates Boiler Room Info Online, Strathclyde Associates Boiler Room Info Review, Strathclyde Associates Boiler Room Info Free, Strathclyde Associates Boiler Room Info Information, Strathclyde Associates Boiler Room Info Pictures, Strathclyde Associates Boiler Room Info Video, Strathclyde Associates Boiler Room Info News, Strathclyde Associates Boiler Room Info Links, Strathclyde Associates Boiler Room Info Bookmarks | Blurpalicious
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strathclyde police associates - boiler room strathclyde police, strathclyde associates korea
By Strathclyde Police and Associates on January 20, 2011 - As technology advances, fraudsters have become increasingly sophisticated. The following pages from Strathclyde Associates Police highlight some recent types of fraud which are causing concern and give
Monday, May 30, 2011
strathclyde associates scam fraud – Free Express Press Release Distribution
Press Releases Tagged ‘strathclyde associates scam fraud’
Trimble is establishing SITECH Technology Dealers in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific regions by Strathclyde and Associates
Strathclyde Associates Trading and Management Construction Company News: Trimble has announced today that a SITECH® Technology Dealer has been established to serve contractors in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. SITECH South East joins the network of SITECH dealerships – the first fully dedicated global distribution network offering the most comprehensive portfolio of construction technology systems available ...
Strathclyde Associates Trading News: CADLearning AutoCAD Architecture 2011 Tutorials Published
4D Technologies, an Autodesk Authorized Publisher specializing in self-paced eLearning for CAD and BIM software , announced today that it has published its CADLearning AutoCAD Architecture 2011 Tutorial Series. Strathclyde Associates Trading News : 4D Technologies, an Autodesk Authorized Publisher specializing in self-paced eLearning for CAD and BIM software , announced today that it has ...
Newsvine - strathclyde associates scam in Business articles
Strathclyde associates Trading and Management Construction Company: Renovations are stressful, but if you rush through important details you could fall prey to one of these scams. Scam artists are nothing new, but there are plenty of reasons to predict that even more of them will be around, due to tough economic times.
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Sleazy Home Improvement Scams- Strathclyde Associates Trading
By: strathclyde|2010-11-20|Business
Strathclyde associates Trading and Management Construction Company: Spring\'s the time homeowners get to work -- and shady contractors come of out of the woodwork. Here\'s how to smell a suspicious deal. By Bankrate Like most homeowners, you probably spent the winter months talking about the home improvements you\'d like to make.
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Strathclyde Associates Trading - Things Contractors Won't Tell You
By: strathclyde|2010-11-20|Business
Strathclyde associates Trading and Management Construction Company: Learning a few tricks of their trade will help you ensure you get the job done right and at a fair price and to avoid scam By SmartMoney Things Contractors Wont Tell You, avoid scam - My license is laughable. When you hire a general contractor to build an addition onto your house, you probably assume youre getting someone who has spent years learning his craft, giving him the proper credentials to saw a hole in the side of your den.
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Sleazy Home Improvement Scams- Strathclyde Associates Trading
By: strathclyde|2010-11-20|Business
Strathclyde associates Trading and Management Construction Company: Spring\'s the time homeowners get to work -- and shady contractors come of out of the woodwork. Here\'s how to smell a suspicious deal. By Bankrate Like most homeowners, you probably spent the winter months talking about the home improvements you\'d like to make.
Tags: strathclyde police | strathclyde university | associates degree | Strathclyde Associates Trading | Strathclyde Associates Trading Management Construction Company
Strathclyde Associates Trading - Things Contractors Won't Tell You
By: strathclyde|2010-11-20|Business
Strathclyde associates Trading and Management Construction Company: Learning a few tricks of their trade will help you ensure you get the job done right and at a fair price and to avoid scam By SmartMoney Things Contractors Wont Tell You, avoid scam - My license is laughable. When you hire a general contractor to build an addition onto your house, you probably assume youre getting someone who has spent years learning his craft, giving him the proper credentials to saw a hole in the side of your den.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Risk Assessment: Smartcard fraud scam Warning
Risk Assessment Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde and Associates. Security is a balance between confidentiality, authentication and integrity versus convenience, cost and reliability. Figure 4 illustrates the balance that must be struck by stakeholders when implementing technical solutions to counter security vulnerabilities,
Abstract. The introduction of smartcard technologies has reduced the incidence
of card fraud in the UK, but there are still significant losses from fraudulent
card use. In this paper we detail the context of smartcard introduction and describe
the types of fraud that remain a threat to cardholders and other stakeholders
in the card system. We conclude with a risk analysis from the cardholder’s
perspective and recommend greater cardholder awareness of such
risks. Susan Burns, George R. S. Weir
Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde,
Glasgow G1 1XH, UK
Risk Assessment. Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde and Associates. Security is a balance between confidentiality, authentication and integrity versus convenience, cost and reliability. Figure 4 illustrates the balance that must be struck by stakeholders when implementing technical solutions to counter security vulnerabilities, essentially this boils down to cost versus benefits.
This generic approach can be applied to security measures for smart card payments,
whereby:
• Cost is the amount it costs the card issuer and card scheme to support the plastic
card payments, including the cost of implementing changes to the system e.g.
longer keys or moving to online authentication to validate all card transactions;
• Performance considers convenience and reliability e.g. avoiding reputational
damage or inconvenience for customers or retailers;
• Risk is remaining level of risk which the security measures have not fully mitigated.
This could be financial loss, additional costs, loss of market share, reputational
damage, corporate embarrassment, legal or regulatory investigation or risk
to personal safety.
The potential loss or exposure from a given risk can be reduced through assessing and
management of the risk (Figure 5). Effective risk reduction methods may leave an
element of residual risk, but will bring benefits, although these may not always be financial, e.g., they could be reputational benefits.
A risk map is a technique to analyse and illustrate risks, likely causal events and potential
impacts [10]. The links shown are not always exhaustive but demonstrate the
potentially wide ranging impacts of each risk and support analysis of outcomes and
mitigation actions. As a tool, they also allow flexibility to consider how the impact of
one risk, e.g., card stolen, can be compounded by the occurrence of other risks, such
as the PIN having been obtained.
Figure 6 illustrates a risk map analysis for the cardholder, based upon four primary
risk conditions, card obtained by fraudsters, card details obtained by fraudsters, PIN
obtained by fraudsters, and PIN forgotten by cardholder. The associated cardholder
events represent the contexts in which the risks are created, and the impact arising
from these circumstances is also indicated.
For the cardholder, the key risks centre on the components for which the cardholder
is responsible, namely the smartcard, the PIN and documents such as statements
and receipts that contain card details. The events include some that are within
the cardholder’s control, e.g., keeping a note of the PIN number, but others such as a compromised terminal are beyond cardholder control.
Summary and Conclusions. Risk Assessment Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde and Associates. The introduction of smartcards to the UK marketplace has had a significant effect in reducing the incidence of card fraud, but further steps are required to prevent continued instances of fraud. A key step in this direction is to clarify the roles, responsibilities and risks faced by the different stakeholders in the card process. Furthermore, ‘awareness raising’ in which cardholders become more conscious of their risks and responsibilities may afford the best defence against consumer fraud. Our analysis of the card process, stakeholders and cardholder risks may contribute to this awareness.
Strathclyde ANTI-PHISHING AS A WEB-BASED USER SERVICE Scam
Strathclyde University Associates Warning - This paper describes the recent phenomenon of phishing, in which email messages are sent to unwitting recipients in
order to elicit personal information and perpetrate identity theft and financial fraud. A variety of existing techniques for
addressing this problem are detailed and a novel approach to the provision of phishing advice is introduced. This takes
the form of a Web-based user-service to which users may forward suspect email messages for inspection. The Anti-
Phishing Web Service rates the suspect email and provides a Web-based report that the submitter may view. This
approach promises benefits in the form of added security for the end-user and insight on the factors that are most
revealing of phishing attacks. Keywords detail as Phishing, spam, email scams.
Strathclyde University Associates Introduction. Phishing scams are an increasingly common method of identity theft. They begin with an email message that
appears to originate with an established legitimate organization. The email usually asks the recipient to
submit personal information on a website. However, the email is fraudulent and has actually been sent with
criminal intent. Unfortunately, many email users are unsophisticated in the ways of email and being unable to
spot phishing attempts, they innocently follow the instructions contained therein. A consequence of this
innocence may be significant financial loss.
This paper describes the nature of phishing scams and the associated problems email users face in
identifying phishing emails. In addition, we describe a software solution (the Anti-Phishing Web Service)
that aims to assist with the phishing problem.
Email, spam and scams on Strathclyde University and SCER Associates. The term ‘spam’ commonly refers to unsolicited bulk email. Unsolicited email includes sales and job
enquiries specifically addressed to a particular recipient without their prior knowledge or request. Bulk email
includes mailing lists and newsletters to which the recipient has subscribed. Spam is the intersection of these
email varieties – it is both unsolicited and bulk.
The majority of spam emails advertise products such as computer software or drugs. With negligible cost
and effort required to send spam, it now accounts for around 76% of all email messages (Gaudin, 2004).
Many infrequent email users now find it difficult to locate legitimate email in their mailbox. As a result, the
effectiveness of email as a communication medium has been severely reduced.
To combat this growing problem, most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) prohibit the sending of spam
from their networks. Some spammers use multiple free ISP accounts to send spam, whereby, if one of these
free accounts is terminated, another can be quickly created. Another popular method of despatching spam is
through virus infested PCs, usually belonging to unsuspecting home broadband users (Leyden, 2004a).
Despite attempts to reduce the problem, the incidence of spam continues to increase.
Many countries, including the UK and the US, have introduced laws to prevent the sending of spam (BBC
News, 2003). However, these laws have had little effect, since most spam originates from outside the
legislating country. There are also loopholes and inadequacies in these laws. For example, the US Can Spam
Act requires individuals to opt-out of spam, rather than opt-in. EU anti-spam laws also have problems,
because business email addresses are exempt from the legislation.
Since most legal attempts to address spam have met with limited success, many ISPs and email users now
rely heavily on email filters to remove spam. Spam filters perform a series of tests on each incoming email
and combine the results to determine whether the message is spam or legitimate. Spam filtering takes place at
the mail transfer agent (MTA) or mail user agent (MUA). Popular MTA spam filters include SpamAssassin
and Brightmail. Many MUA, such as Eudora and Mozilla Mail, now provide integrated spam filters. Without
spam filters and related spam blacklists many users might otherwise simply abandon the use of email.
While the majority of spam emails are advertisements for products, some messages aim to entice the
recipient into scams. Common email scams include pyramid schemes that promise very high returns on an
initial investment (Wikipedia, 2006a). Unfortunately, such ‘investors’ have no chance of receiving any return
on their initial outlay. Perhaps the most popular email scam is the Nigerian money transfer (Wikipedia,
2006b). This scam asks the recipient for help with the transfer of money from a Nigerian bank account,
promising a large payment in return. Once entered, the investor is asked for sums of money to help with the
fictitious transfer process. Of course, no money transfer is ever received by the unwitting subjects of this
criminal operation.
The Phishing Process Warning by Christopher Cranston
Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Strathclyde University and Associates - Most phishing attacks take four distinct steps toward defrauding unwary recipients: (1) the scam operators set
up the phishing website. This website usually imitates an established, legitimate site; (2) using guessed or
copied email addresses, the scammers send out emails purporting to come from the legitimate site; (3) the
recipient downloads their email and receives the phishing message. The email asks the user to click on a
hyperlink and enter personal details on the resulting website. If the user clicks on the hyperlink the phishing
site will be displayed. If duped, the user may then enter the requested personal information; (4) the recipient's
personal details are now held by the scam operators. The scammers may now assume the identity of the
recipient and gain illicit access to funds. These steps are elaborated below.
Step 1: Construct the Phishing Website
The first task is to establish a phishing website. These are simple to set up, requiring little more than an
Internet-connected computer serving web pages. The Web pages are usually altered copies of pages
belonging to the targeted organisation. Sometimes, the phishing site appears as a pop-up window over the
legitimate site. Generally, phishing sites are contrived to appear authentic.
Most phishing sites do not have a domain name and Web links to the site in the phishing email usually
take the form of IP addresses, e.g. http://61.71.120.10/citi/index.php. Sometimes phishing sites do use
domain names, often cleverly crafted to mimic established sites, e.g. http://www.usbank-secure.biz/.
However, registering a domain name entails some financial cost and provides additional information that
may be used to track the perpetrators.
Strathclyde University and Associates - Recent analysis by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) found that most (27%) of phishing sites
were hosted in the US (op. cit.). This was closely followed by South Korea with 20% and China with 16%.
For comparison, the UK hosted only 1% of phishing sites. The report also estimated that 25% of phishing
sites were hosted on hacked computers, without their owners’ knowledge. Finally, the report states that on
average phishing sites are only live for 2.25 days - the longest noted was a site serving content for 15 days.
Sites with a longer lifespan tend to operate from countries where there may be difficulties in closing down
sites, where there are different or no Internet crime laws.
Step 2: Write and Send Phishing Emails
Once the phishing site is set-up, the next step is for large numbers of phishing emails to be sent out. For this
to be possible the scam operators must collate a large number of email addresses. These are acquired using
address harvesting techniques perfected by spammers. Like other spammers, phishing scam operators must
accumulate as many email addresses as possible in order to maximize the response rate.
Address harvesting techniques vary, but one popular methods is to use programs that search the web for
published email addresses. These programs target Usenet posts, web forums, mailing lists and guest books,
since these resources are likely to contain email addresses (Hird, 2002). Another technique is dictionarybased
address generation. Finally, rather than collect addresses themselves, phishing scammers may simply
purchase a list of addresses from an unscrupulous third party. Regardless of the selected technique, large
numbers of addresses are acquired by the scammers. Although many of these addresses will be malformed,
duplicates or out-of-date, and many of the valid addresses will belong to individuals who are not customers
of the organization being impersonated (and so cannot be defrauded by the scam), this will not deter the
scammers, since sending email is of negligible cost. The scammers’ concern is simply to maximize the
quantity of phishing emails sent.
The content of a phishing email is often carefully crafted. A typical email attempts to alarm the recipient
by describing security or maintenance issues at an established legitimate organization. The message will ask
the recipient to resolve these issues by confirming personal information on a web page. An embedded
hyperlink in the email often provides easy access to the web page. This hyperlink is often disguised to
resemble a link to the legitimate website, although it points to the phishing site.
Some emails contain embedded forms for users to enter their personal details. This removes the need for a
separate phishing web site. Other phishing emails do not ask for personal details at all, but urge the user to
install an attached piece of software. Software offered in this way is usually malicious and may be a virus,
worm, Trojan horse or spyware program. Spyware programs are particularly dangerous, as they can intercept
and transmit sensitive personal information, without the user's knowledge.
Regardless of whether the goal is to have recipients visit a web page, enter details in a form or install a
program, the user must be convinced that the email is authentic. To accomplish this, phishing emails often
contain images, slogans or disclaimers taken from the organization being impersonated. Fortunately not all
phishing emails look authentic. Many have poor spelling or grammar and may also bear little resemblance to
legitimate emails from the genuine organization. Such clues may alert users to the email's true purpose.
When phishing emails are sent out, it is common to spoof the sender's address. Spoofing the sender's
address is possible since the current email Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) does not validate the
purported ‘From’ address. This loophole allows scammers to send phishing emails that appear to come from
legitimate organizations. A recent Anti-Phishing Working Group Report indicates that in June 2004, 92% of
phishing emails were sent with a spoofed sender's address. This technique is prevalent as it convinces many
recipients that the email is authentic.
Once phishing emails have been written, disguised and addressed, the final step is to send them. This step
employs standard spamming techniques, e.g., sending the phishing emails using someone else's mail server.
In the past this was easily done through open relays and open proxies. Although these vulnerabilities are now
rare, they are still occasionally used to send spam and phishing emails. Todays phishing emails are
commonly sent from mail servers or proxies running on virus infected machines. Viruses such as Sobig
contain built-in SMTP servers, turning infected machines into unwitting spam senders (Sophos, 2006). This
permits the perpetrators to remain hidden, while an estimated 60% of all spam is sent using virus infected
machines (Spamhaus, 2003).
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