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CRTC Links with Small Business to Thwart Spam Messages in Canada [Professional Services Close - Up](Professional Services Close - Up Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said that by working with a small Saskatchewan business, it has stopped malicious spam messages from being sent to Canadians. According to a media release, millions of spam messages were unknowingly being sent from a server owned by a Saskatchewan-based computer reseller. In July 2014, the Spam Reporting Centre received reports of spam messages routed through Access Communications, an Internet service provider (ISP). During its investigation, the CRTC discovered that the spam messages were actually coming from a small business's server, which used Access Communications as its ISP. This business's server had become infected with malware, which had caused it to join the botnet "Ebury." It is estimated that the infected server had sent millions of malicious spam messages without the business's or Access Communications' knowledge. Once alerted to the situation by the CRTC, the small business and Access Communications fully cooperated and removed all traces of the malware. By working together and acting swiftly on the reports that came into the Spam Reporting Centre, the CRTC, the Saskatchewan-based small business and Access Communications were able to prevent millions of additional and unwanted spam messages from being sent, reducing the potential harm these messages may have caused Canadians. "We have a number of tools at our disposal to protect Canadians from online threats such as spam. This investigation illustrates how we can tailor our enforcement actions to the situation at hand. By working together, we were able to stop this malicious spam from continuing to be sent to Canadians. We are committed to collaborating with Canadian businesses, large and small, to ensure they comply with the rules and we will continue to alert them when we suspect that their servers have become compromised." More information and complete details: www.crtc.gc.ca ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |