Carole Theriault interviews Paul Baccas about stock pump-and-dump
spam.
IT security and control firm Sophos, today announced the
availability of a new Sophos podcast,
'Surfing the pump-and-dump-wave' where spam and virus researcher
Paul Baccas explains what pump-and-dump, or financial stock spam,
is and discusses how this type of spam has evolved.
Pump-and-dump stock spam campaigns are designed to manipulate
the share price of a company - spammers purchase stock at a cheap
price and then artificially inflate its price by encouraging others
to purchase more (by spamming "good news" about the company to
others). The spammers then sell off their stock at a profit.
"Pump-and-dump stock spam is another method of stock
manipulation but the internet is a much faster route to potential
investors, rather than talking up a stock in a crowded bar," said
Yogita Parmar, producer of Sophos podcasts. "Spammers aren't just
sending out plain text emails with the ticker symbol anymore,
they're using more sophisticated techniques such as embedded
images, attached PDF brochures and MP3 files to avoid detection.
And, it's working - in August 2007, Sophos reported a 30 percent
rise in the total level of spam due to one massive PDF
pump-and-dump campaign, a clear signal that computers users need to
defend the email gateway."
Sophos experts are also warning organizations about spammers who
surf the financially rewarding pump-and-dump wave by offering
investors advice on future share price movements, and even
proposing to boost
companies' stock prices in return for payment.
"Since their inception in 2006, Sophos podcasts have been a
great success," continued Parmar. "The podcasts have covered a
range of topics from the dangers of social networking to rootkits
and zero-day threats - simple, digestible nuggets of security
information. We would love to hear what our listeners really think,
so if you have any feedback, or suggestions for new content, email
studio@sophos.com."
All Sophos podcasts are available for download. Previous
podcasts have covered topics such as the dangers of social
networking sites, zero-day threats, data leakage prevention,
anti-virus testing, and rootkits.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.