Bailey's website offers 20,000 email addresses for $399.
Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global
network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have
encouraged the authorities to continue to pursue the spamming
community following the news that a man has been charged with
stealing the membership database held at the American College of
Physicians (ACP) in Philadelphia.
William Bailey, Jr, of Charlotte, North Carolina, faces a
maximum possible sentence of 55 years in jail and $2,750,000 in
fines if found guilty of illegally accessing the database and
downloading contact details of 80,000 members of the ACP.
46-year-old Bailey runs a website called dr-411.com, which sells
professional organization member databases, including addresses and
email addresses for doctors, dentists, lawyers and real estate
agents.
Bailey's website, which is currently not active, contained
adverts promoting his contact databases such as:
Physician Email Database 20,350 emails for $399
It is alleged that Bailey ignored the following warning message
on the ACP's website in order to access their membership
database:
"Member Connection" or any of its data or listings may not
be downloaded, republished, resold or duplicated, in whole or in
part, for commercial or any other purposes, or for purposes of
compiling mailing lists or any other lists of physicians. The use
of "Member Connection" to establish independent data files or
compendiums of statistical information is prohibited... Should the
foregoing terms and conditions be acceptable to you, please
indicate your agreement and acceptance by clicking below on the
button labeled, "I accept."
United States Attorney General Pat Meehan says that the ACP
contacted the computer crime squad at the FBI immediately.
"Criminal spammers are supported by the unethical email list
providers who have sprung up like mushrooms around them. Spammers
need long lists of qualified email addresses to send their unwanted
marketing messages to, and so are always on the lookout for
unscrupulous agencies who may assist them," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "Those people who are prepared to
work with spammers carry the stench of spam around with them, and
if found guilty should be punished appropriately. The public
demands firm action from the authorities to investigate cases like
this."
More information about the indictment can be found on the
Department of Justice
website.
Sophos recommends that companies protect their computers with a
consolidated solution to defend against
spam, spyware and viruses.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.