Let me raise some questions first.
–> Do you know what is a Spam ?
–> Why do spammers exist in the virtual world in abundance ?
The most correct answers to the above two questions are -
Spam is basically the abuse of any electronic messaging system by sending unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately. The most simple and economically feasible reason of spammers existing and doing quite good in today’s virtual world is because advertisers face no operating costs beyond the purview of their mailing lists, and it is indeed a difficult task to hold senders responsible for their mass mailing activities.
For sure, you and me, both are fed-up with the plethora of personal spams we receive day in and day out, but the fact of the matter is that our inbox no longer interests many spammers across the globe. Now, spammers have found a new and innovative way to attract attention, by targeting Online Gamers. With the extensive usage and popularity of Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) videogames; spammers have started using phishing and Trojans to steal players’ login names and passwords. This is better explained by Abhinav Karnwal, Product Marketing Manager APEC, Trend Micro when he says, “In-game characters controlled by individuals working for spam companies infiltrate these virtual worlds and bombard players with unsolicited ads for the sale of in-game virtual items like swords and even playable characters. Since cyber criminals need large audiences to perpetrate their crimes, they have begun preying on residents in virtual worlds and players in online games, particularly in Asia where these games have become extremely popular“.
There are various known instances when online gamers have faced severe attacks from spammers. Symantec observed web attacks from 808,000 unique domains, many of which are mainstream websites, including news, travel, online retail, games, real estate, government and many others in the year 2008. Pop-up buttons in the form of spammers inside games via characters created by spammers, who then spam other users in the games are also known to haunt the gamers.
The article here releases a list of Top 5 malware discovered in gaming files for the leading 20 games -
1. Trojan – Downlaoder.Win32.Bagle.qv (32.6%)
2. P2P-Worm.Win32.P2PAdware.a (15.1%)
3. P2PWorm.Win32.Padonak.b (9.3%)
4. Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Peerad.a (8.3%)
5. P2PWorm.Win32.Kapucen.b (3.1%)
Do we have a solution? Yes, we do. But, it is better if we are realistic not highly optimistic at present about fighting back these spammers. This report states that Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has formed the “Norathian Underground Gnome Investigation Team” (NUGIT), a nine-member unit charged with uncovering fraud operations in the fantasy world of Norath in SOE’s MMO game “Everquest”.
Ever wondered what is the money the spammers make by creating spams ? Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley mentions, “third-party companies make $2 billion (£1.2bn) a year selling virtual items“.
Phew !! that is some money.
I wish I could see a spam-free virtual world soon. But, then “Perfect is Nothing” and so is “Everything is Possible“.
