{"id":79826,"date":"2016-03-18T22:49:34","date_gmt":"2016-03-19T02:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbachnet.wwwmi3-ss40.a2hosted.com\/index.php\/"},"modified":"2021-08-23T15:00:50","modified_gmt":"2021-08-23T19:00:50","slug":"michigan-leader-in-spam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/michigan-leader-in-spam\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Leader in SPAM"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mrktngguys.wordpress.com\/2010\/04\/06\/top-5-marketing-essentials-for-2010-part-4\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-98944\" title=\"Michigan Leader in SPAM\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/spam-email-reject-1-e1564347013461.jpg?resize=94%2C103&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Michigan Leader in SPAM\" width=\"94\" height=\"103\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/spam-email-reject-1-e1564347013461.jpg?w=181&amp;ssl=1 181w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/spam-email-reject-1-e1564347013461.jpg?resize=69%2C75&amp;ssl=1 69w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/spam-email-reject-1-e1564347013461.jpg?resize=138%2C150&amp;ssl=1 138w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 94px) 100vw, 94px\" \/><\/a>In a surprise finding, the New Jersey based anit-malware company <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.comodo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Comodo&#8217;s<\/strong> Threat Research Labs<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.comodo.com\/it-security\/the-state-that-sends-the-most-email-spam\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">found<\/a> that <strong>Michigan<\/strong> is one of the leading sources of unsolicited e-mail on the Internet. Unsolicited bulk email is also known as &#8220;<strong>SPAM<\/strong>.&#8221; SPAM is usually considered junk e-mail. The Great Lake state ranked third behind California and <a title=\"New York\" href=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?ll=43.0,-75.0&amp;spn=3.0,3.0&amp;q=43.0,-75.0 (New%20York)&amp;t=h\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"geolocation nofollow noopener noreferrer\">New York<\/a> in spewing out the most SPAM.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-98946\" title=\"Michigan\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/michigan5-9.png?resize=90%2C101&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Michigan\" width=\"90\" height=\"101\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/michigan5-9.png?w=134&amp;ssl=1 134w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/michigan5-9.png?resize=67%2C75&amp;ssl=1 67w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 90px) 100vw, 90px\" \/>The Comodo researchers examined all the emails Comodo filtered for customers in the second half of 2015, specifically looking at SPAM. In doing their research, they conducted an IP address analysis of the millions of pieces of <a title=\"Email spam\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Email_spam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener wikipedia noreferrer\">email SPAM<\/a> that came into the Threat Research Labs from their customers.<\/p>\n<p>Through this analysis, researchers have been able to break down SPAM by state and find where it originated from. IP addresses from California (24.37%) and New York (22.36%) sent nearly half of the spam Comodo filtered, while Utah (19.42%), <strong>Michigan (10.79%),<\/strong> and New Jersey (3.68%) IP addresses rounded out the top five states.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/betanews.com\/2016\/03\/08\/the-spam-map-of-the-united-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-98948 size-full\" title=\"Comodo State SPAM Map\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/comodostatespammap.jpg?resize=480%2C373&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Comodo State SPAM Map\" width=\"480\" height=\"373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/comodostatespammap.jpg?w=900&amp;ssl=1 900w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/comodostatespammap.jpg?resize=75%2C58&amp;ssl=1 75w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/comodostatespammap.jpg?resize=150%2C117&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/comodostatespammap.jpg?resize=768%2C597&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Fatih Orhan, Director of Technology and lead at the Comodo Threat Research Labs said:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify; padding-left: 30px;\"><em>California and New York were not really surprising in terms of the top two states because of population and technology innovation taking place in those geographies &#8212; but finding Utah and Michigan in the top five was somewhat shocking<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>rb-<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I have followed the battle against SPAM since <a href=\"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2wgaW-e7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2009<\/a>.\u00a0Here are some tips to help protect yourself from SPAM<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Keep your Junk E-mail Filter updated<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px;\"><em>Updates are available at\u00a0Downloads on Office Online. Under\u00a0<strong>Office Update<\/strong>, click\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoft-365\/microsoft-office\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Check for Updates<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Block images in HTML messages that spammers use as <a title=\"Web bug\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Web_bug\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener wikipedia noreferrer\">Web beacons<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px;\"><em>By default, Outlook is set to block automatic picture downloads. To verify your settings are, on the\u00a0<strong>Tools<\/strong> menu, click\u00a0<strong>Options<\/strong>. Click the\u00a0<strong>Security\u00a0<\/strong>tab, and then click\u00a0<strong>Change Automatic Download Settings<\/strong>. Verify that the\u00a0<strong>Don\u2019t download pictures or other content automatically in HTML e-mail<\/strong> check box is selected.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Watch out for checkboxes that are already selected<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px;\"><em>When you buy things online, companies sometimes add a check box (already selected!) to indicate that it is fine to sell or give your e-mail address to other businesses. Clear the check box so that your e-mail address won\u2019t be shared.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>DO NOT<\/strong> sign up for commercial mailing lists.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>DO NOT<\/strong> reply to email or unsubscribe from a mailing list that you did not explicitly sign up for.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Configure your email client to send and receive emails in Plain Text or <a title=\"Rich Text Format\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rich_Text_Format\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener wikipedia noreferrer\">Rich Text Format<\/a>.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px;\"><em>For <a title=\"Microsoft Outlook\" href=\"https:\/\/products.office.com\/en-US\/outlook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"homepage nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Microsoft Outlook<\/a> go to: <strong>Tools &gt; Options\u2026<\/strong> and click the <strong>Mail Format<\/strong> Tab. Change your Message format to <strong>Text\u00a0<\/strong>Click <strong>OK<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Report SPAM<\/strong> that is fraudulent \u2013 offering products that don\u2019t work or don\u2019t exist, pyramid schemes, and so on \u2013 can be sent to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">US Federal Trade Commission<\/a> at <a href=\"mailto:uce@ftc.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>uce@ftc.gov<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Report SPAM<\/strong> that promotes stocks can be sent to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">US Securities and Exchange Commission<\/a> at\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:enforcement@sec.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>enforcement@sec.gov<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Lest we forget, this is the same Comodo that was responsible for releasing 9 fraudulent certificates onto the Internet which, <a href=\"https:\/\/nakedsecurity.sophos.com\/2011\/03\/24\/fraudulent-certificates-issued-by-comodo-is-it-time-to-rethink-who-we-trust\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sophos<\/a> says impacted the trusted root authority on all default Windows and OS X installations, as well as high-profile websites like:<\/em><br \/>\n<em> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/intl\/en\/mail\/help\/about.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mail.google.com<\/a><\/em><br \/>\n<em> \u2022 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">www.google.com<\/a><\/em><br \/>\n<em> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/login.yahoo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">login.yahoo.com<\/a> (3 certificates)<\/em><br \/>\n<em> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/login.skype.com\/login\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">login.skype.com<\/a><\/em><br \/>\n<em> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/addons.mozilla.org\/en-US\/firefox\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">addons.mozilla.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Sophos states that this breach allowed an attacker to easily masquerade a malicious website as one of the above with the HTTPS authentication succeeding.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><a title=\"Ralph Bach\" href=\"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/new-resume\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ralph Bach<\/a>\u00a0has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his\u00a0<a title=\"Bach Seat\" href=\"https:\/\/rbach.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bach Seat<\/a> about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on <a class=\"broken_link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/rb48334\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">LinkedIn<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ralph.bach.14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rbach48334\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter<\/a>. Email the Bach Seat\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:\/\/bach.seat@gmail.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Comodo security says that Michigan landed in third place behind California and New York in spewing out the most SPAM messages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2686,398,19,4,95],"class_list":["post-79826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","tag-2686","tag-comodo","tag-michigan","tag-security","tag-spam"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79826"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128645,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79826\/revisions\/128645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}