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Gmail Spam Doubles, Duping Junk Blocker

Program touted to tell real email from spam 'defeated'

By Jonas Oransky, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 10, 2008 7:09 PM CDT

(Newser) – Spammers doubled junk mail from Gmail accounts last month and all but iced a touted spam-blocker, PC World reports. Gmail junk rose from 1.3% to 2.6% of all spam in February, overwhelming the company's CAPTCHA programs with spam from multiple accounts. "It's only a matter of time before (CAPTCHAs) are comprehensively defeated," one analyst said.

Gmail's CAPTCHA programs, which try to tell human emailers from machines, stopped 80% of the junk mail but were swamped by spam from two hosts, according to one security vendor. Almost nine in 10 junk emails come from Yahoo's free accounts, but businesses are unwilling to snub messages from such free email domains because they have legitimate uses.

[Images (4)]

[Videos (3)]

A sign advertising Spam lunch meat breakfast at Burger King in Honolulu, Sunday, June 10, 2007. Both Burger King and McDonalds are offering the processed meat with eggs and rice for breakfast in Hawaii... (Associated Press)

As technology progresses, craftier spam is finding its way through the once reliable filters of Google's Gmail. ((c) cambodia4kidsorg)

As technology progresses, craftier spam is finding its way through the once reliable filters of Google's Gmail. (Shutterstock.com)

Cans of Spam sit on a shelf of a grocery store in Springfield, Ill. in this Aug. 22, 2006 file photo. Meat producer Hormel Foods Corp. on Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 said strong sales of Spam helped its first-quarter... (Associated Press)

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Gmail Spam Doubles, Duping Junk Blocker