Spammers hijacking legit newsletters

Newsletter creators aren't the only ones hoping their products don't get caught in spam filters now that hackers have begun using newsletters to launch spam.Researchers at Symantec say they've uncovered email messages that appear to be genuine newsletters — only to find the emails have been hijacked by spammers. Spammers embed their messages within a single file, according to the Cupertino, Calif.-based anti-virus firm. The message pops up after an affected user reads what they think is a normal newsletter message.

Doug Bowers, senior director of anti-abuse engineering for Symantec, told SCMagazine.com today that the new spammer strategy is ironic, considering the problems legit newsletters once had avoiding spam filters. "For us, [what stands out] is the irony that just a few years ago a lot of legitimate newsletters were being classified as spam, and now it's being flipped the other way," he said.