McAfee Launches Global S.P.A.M. Experiment

Ex_Brit

Ex_Brit

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..as in "Spammed Persistently All Month" - this might interest you guys.

Fifty Volunteers around the World Say 'Yes' to a Diet of Spam for 30 Days

SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE) today announced the launch of its global S.P.A.M. (Spammed Persistently All Month) Experiment. For the month of April, participants from around the world - ranging from homemakers, government executives, and students to retirees - will surf the Web, make online purchases and register for promotions. Participants have been provided with a clean laptop without spam protection and a new email address. Beginning today, they will blog about their experiences daily at http://www.mcafee.com/spamexperiment.

With a proven link between spam and cybercrime, the experiment aims to show the devastating effects of spam.

"Spam isn't just a nuisance. It's a tool used by cyber criminals to steal personal and business data," said Christopher Bolin, chief technology officer for McAfee. "And, as scammers become more adept at writing spam in local languages it's becoming more difficult for Internet users to detect spam. It's vital that computer users understand the risks of leaving their computers unprotected."

Cybercriminals use spam to take control of millions of compromised computers around the world. Spam emails entice individuals at work and at home to handover sensitive information - and even cash - to criminals.

"Cybercrime won't go away without solving the problem of spam," said Dave DeWalt, chief executive officer for McAfee. "McAfee is leading the fight against cybercrime and spam. This experiment will raise awareness of the problem by showing that a 30-day diet of spam is bad for your online health."

S.P.A.M. Experiment participants are from ten countries spanning the globe, including Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

To track the daily progress of the S.P.A.M. Experiment and read reports from the participants, please visit http://www.mcafee.com/spamexperiment.


Source: McAfee.com
 
Aren't they confusing Phishing and spamming ? or was this another April 1 joke ?
 
Ex_Brit said:
For the month of April, participants from around the world - ranging from homemakers, government executives, and students to retirees - will surf the Web, make online purchases and register for promotions. Participants have been provided with a clean laptop without spam protection and a new email address.
Click to expand...

Now here is where i am confused. Okay you give them a new laptop. You give them a new email address. But yet they have to use their personal info to make the purchases. So if it is true that there is a link between the 2 things then how are these people protected by a insecure laptop and a email address?

Is McAffee gonna pay for all the damage these people can do to their Credit reports?

Dumb idea.
 
I agree with Mak. The people know that they're going to get SPAM so its up to them to "fall for it or not"
So what i dont understand what the point of no-protection or not is. Its up to the user, who knows whats happening, to accept or not.

This doesnt seem that much of an experiment to me.
 
Well from what i read it doesnt seem that way. I mean i wouldnt want to be a part of that if i had to use my own credit info and my personal info. Not on a unsecure PC.
 
you would be surprised by the number of people in my school who have computers and have no idea how to protect them that includes anti virus so this should be called spam awareness month after all it is desperately needed: do they get a budget??????
 
Well that just makes tehm even more, how to say it nicely. Dumb. Why would anyone volunteer to purchase online with the possibility of having their info stolen. That is so not right of McAffee to even offer someting like that then.

"Hey you get a free laptop, but you could have you identity stolen. That is what we are trying to prove with your help. Jsut sign here saying we are not liable for anything if you identity does get stolen. Thank you. Now go surf the web get infected and purchase stuff and get your digital life stolen from you. Thanks. :grinning:"
 
Who knows. They probably didnt want the public to know what they did. But i thought Fake ID's were illegal? For a company to give them out would be bad. Specially since McAffe is based in teh USA.
 
I have no idea. I was only speculating. I doubt that they have to sign on to anything involving credit cards or personal addresses etc. More like places where you have to give an email address, which they have a false one to use for, and then sit back and see how the website spams them.
 
gthey could just purchase items by using MCaffe personal information as in shipping
adress : MCafee building
name: bill gates (i don;t know the name of the guy whos in charge of mcaffe)
contact info : johnsmith@MCaffe.com
...........
rite?????
 
Not really because i doubt Mcaffee gave them their credit card number.
All they'd achieve would be sending the product and spam to Mcaffee thus defeating the whole purpose of the experiment.
 
Yeah, even though I don't use McAfee products on my PC, I find their SiteAdvisor tool to be quite invaluable sometimes.
 
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