Comments on: “Email spam is destroying life on earth,” but McAfee’s anti-spam software can save our planet http://Vmyths.com/2009/04/17/mcafee/ Truth about computer security hysteria Thu, 03 Feb 2011 05:36:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Gsparky http://Vmyths.com/2009/04/17/mcafee/comment-page-1/#comment-143 Gsparky Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:15:52 +0000 http://Vmyths.com/?p=520#comment-143 "A year’s email at a typical medium-size business uses 50,000 KWh; more than one fifth of that annual use can be associated with spam." WHAAAAAT!?!?? This means that the business has servers dedicated to e-mail that are consuming 5.7 kW constantly. 24/7. All the time. Given that one server can typically cover, oh, 30 people, that seems a bit, uh, HIGH. Further, since the crux of their report is that "filtering is the way", they're NOT going to cut down on emissions; they're going to make it worse. They mention that they'd like to be able to stop it at the source, but realize that they can't. Therefore, we need to filter. Which means the spam will still get sent (those 19 servers are still working), but they also have to work more because of the filtering. Then, there's the issue of "falses", meaning false positive and false negative. False positive means they mistook spam for legitimate e-mail. But the filters will create false negatives, meaning legit e-mail is mistaken for spam. This is an issue my wife has with her workplace (a major university). The filters her workplace uses guess wrong about 25% of the time on EVERY e-mail she receives. (I have no idea what crappy filter they're using, but you don't want it.) Which means she spends a lot of time sorting through e-mail (read "burning carbon") because of *spam filtering*. Hey, McAfee, whatever yer smokin', take another drag then sit down and shut up. “A year’s email at a typical medium-size business
uses 50,000 KWh; more than one fifth of that
annual use can be associated with spam.” WHAAAAAT!?!?? This means that the business has servers dedicated to e-mail that are consuming 5.7 kW constantly. 24/7. All the time. Given that one server can typically cover, oh, 30 people, that seems a bit, uh, HIGH. Further, since the crux of their report is that “filtering is the way”, they’re NOT going to cut down on emissions; they’re going to make it worse. They mention that they’d like to be able to stop it at the source, but realize that they can’t. Therefore, we need to filter. Which means the spam will still get sent (those 19 servers are still working), but they also have to work more because of the filtering. Then, there’s the issue of “falses”, meaning false positive and false negative. False positive means they mistook spam for legitimate e-mail. But the filters will create false negatives, meaning legit e-mail is mistaken for spam. This is an issue my wife has with her workplace (a major university). The filters her workplace uses guess wrong about 25% of the time on EVERY e-mail she receives. (I have no idea what crappy filter they’re using, but you don’t want it.) Which means she spends a lot of time sorting through e-mail (read “burning carbon”) because of *spam filtering*.
Hey, McAfee, whatever yer smokin’, take another drag then sit down and shut up.

]]> By: AmyRQA http://Vmyths.com/2009/04/17/mcafee/comment-page-1/#comment-139 AmyRQA Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:21:50 +0000 http://Vmyths.com/?p=520#comment-139 Hi again Rob.. Here's a choice item for you. I Buzzed this up with a nod to check out Vmyths. Again, thanks for your spot-on work. Amy False Security: 'Scareware' Spreads http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123976230407519659.html#mod=loomia?loomia_si=t0:a16:g2:r4:c0.0496176:b23888222 By JOSEPH DE AVILA While surfing the Web in December, Keren Brophy got a message on her computer screen telling her to update her antivirus software. The pop-up message looked similar to Windows security warnings she'd routinely received. She paid $49.99 for a program called Antivirus 2009 from a company calling itself Meyrocorp and thought she was safe. A few days after she installed the software, Ms. Brophy's computer wouldn't boot up properly and soon was unusable; she noticed the desktop icon for the software she'd bought had disappeared. She had to wipe her hard drive clean to get the computer working again. Hoping for a refund, she sent email to Meyrocorp but got only automated replies. "I never got a dime back from them," says Ms. Brophy, a 37-year-old restaurant hostess from North Port, Fla. Meyrocorp couldn't be located for comment.... Hi again Rob.. Here’s a choice item for you. I Buzzed this up with a nod to check out Vmyths. Again, thanks for your spot-on work. Amy

False Security: ‘Scareware’ Spreads

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123976230407519659.html#mod=loomia?loomia_si=t0:a16:g2:r4:c0.0496176:b23888222

By JOSEPH DE AVILA

While surfing the Web in December, Keren Brophy got a message on her computer screen telling her to update her antivirus software. The pop-up message looked similar to Windows security warnings she’d routinely received. She paid $49.99 for a program called Antivirus 2009 from a company calling itself Meyrocorp and thought she was safe.

A few days after she installed the software, Ms. Brophy’s computer wouldn’t boot up properly and soon was unusable; she noticed the desktop icon for the software she’d bought had disappeared. She had to wipe her hard drive clean to get the computer working again. Hoping for a refund, she sent email to Meyrocorp but got only automated replies.

“I never got a dime back from them,” says Ms. Brophy, a 37-year-old restaurant hostess from North Port, Fla. Meyrocorp couldn’t be located for comment….

]]>