Spammers love 'Microsoft support` worm

The latest Windows mass mailer worm could be used by spammers to launch bulk mail blizzards from computers they don`t own, a security researcher warns. According to The Register, anti-virus vendors are now reporting the Palyh worm (which poses as a message from support@microsoft.com) as a variant of Sobig-A, previously implicated in assisting spammers by installing proxy servers on the machines it infected.

Joe Stewart, senior intrusion analyst at security consultancy LURHQ, who wrote a paper on Sobig-A`s appropriation by spammers, reckons history is repeating itself.

"It looks like he/she is trying to do the same thing again, because Sobig-B seems to have the same functionality - acting as a primary stage, a foothold to first spread itself then download the real Trojan code later when the author is ready," Stewart told The Register.

US subscriptions for high-speed online service will continue growing at double-digit rates, as broadband prices fall, according to a report issued today by a technology trade group. Reuters reports that expanding the broadband subscriber base will add to economic growth as faster and more reliable online data flows boost productivity, quoting AeA, the hi-tech industry group formerly known as the American Electronics Association.

AeA`s says that between December 2001 and June 2002, subscriptions grew 27%, down from a 33% rate between June 2001 and December 2001. Falling broadband prices will attract new customers, though subscription growth may slow, says Michaela Platzer, AeA`s VP for research.

"For the next couple of years, I would anticipate double-digit growth," Platzer told Reuters.

Reuters reports that Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officials have taken more than 2 500 trips since 1995, and that they were mostly paid for by the industries the agency regulates. The service quotes a watchdog group, the Centre for Public Integrity.

The body said about $2.8 million paid for FCC commissioners and agency staffers to attend conventions, conferences and other events in locations all over the world, including Paris, Hong Kong and Rio de Janeiro.