First China-U.S. Effort to Fight Spam
(Joint News Release issued with EastWest Institute)
Orlando, FLA., Feb. 24, 2011 – Speaking at the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group 21st General Meeting in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 23, the EastWest Institute’s Chief Technology Officer Karl Frederick Rauscher previewed a joint China-United States report on cybersecurity to be published next month. Fighting Spam to Build Trust will be the first product of talks between Chinese and United States experts convened by EWI, a New York-based international think tank.
“The EastWest Institute sees this report as part of our larger effort to help overcome the trust deficit between China and the United States on cybersecurity,” said Rauscher. At the end of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Washington last month, the U.S.-China Joint Statement called on the two countries to address cybersecurity issues.
Rauscher co-led the bilateral with Yonglin Zhou, Director, Network Security Committee of the Internet Society of China. Fighting Spam to Build Trust will present voluntary best practices for reducing spam which, according to MAAWG, accounts for about 90 per cent of email traffic.
According to Rauscher, the experts chose to target spam in part because China has made great strides in reducing spam in recent years – a notable achievement given the rapid growth of Internet users in the country. Rauscher said that the report will emphasize a leadership role for the private sector in both countries. The recommendations for combating spam will include: processes for creating international protocols aimed to differentiate legitimate messages from spam; a call for educating consumers about the risk of botnets; and measures for discouraging spam, such as encouraging ISPs in both countries to use feedback loops.
“This cooperative effort will not end with this report,” said Zhou. “Rather, it is a part of an ongoing process between Chinese and United States experts to open dialogue and foster mutual understanding.”
Michael O’Reirdan, MAAWG Chairman and Distinguished Engineer at Comcast said, “This dialogue with China is a most welcomed breakthrough – a real step forward. It comes at an opportune time and can build on the work that has been going on at MAAWG for several years.” MAAWG works against spam and online exploitation, representing overone billion mailboxes worldwide.
EWI President and Founder John E. Mroz added: “The United States and China face large moral and political dilemmas in cooperating on cybersecurity. Do we continue to see each other as enemies or rivals, or do we edge slowly forward trying to find common ground? We know that the economic and personal security of our citizens depends on a quantum leap in cooperation and an end to the rapidly escalating cyber mistrust.”
Multilateral efforts to fight spam will be one of the topics discussed at EWI’s upcoming Second Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit, to be held in London June 1-2.
To learn more about EWI: www.ewi.info
To learn more about MAAWG: www.maawg.org
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Media Contacts: For MAAWG: Pr@m3aawg.org
For EWI: Abby Rabinowitz (arabinowitz@ewi.info)
MAAWG Board of Directors: AOL; AT&T (NYSE: T); Cloudmark, Inc.; Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA); Cox Communications;; Facebook; France Telecom (NYSE and Euronext: FTE); Goodmail Systems; Openwave Systems (NASDAQ: OPWV); Tata Communications (NYSE: TCL); Time Warner Cable; Verizon Communications; and Yahoo! Inc.
MAAWG Full Members: 1&1 Internet AG; Adaptive Mobile Security LTD; Apple Inc.; Bizanga LTD; Cisco Systems, Inc.; Constant Contact (CTCT); e-Dialog; Eloqua; Experian CheetahMail; Genius.com; Internet Initiative Japan, (IIJ NASDAQ: IIJI); McAfee Inc.; NeuStar, Inc.; Return Path, Inc.; Spamhaus; Sprint; and Symantec
Incoming State Attorneys General Association President McKenna and FTC Consumer Protection Director Vladeck To Address Online Protection at MAAWG; Global Gathering Tackles Cybersecurity Policy, Technology, Mobile and Social Platforms
San Francisco, January 28, 2011 – Rob McKenna, the incoming president of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), and David Vladeck, head of the U.S. consumer protection bureau, will both keynote the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) meeting in February, which will focus on protecting consumers in an evolving cyber future. The four-day, multi-track event will explore the latest strategies to thwart spam and online threats in sessions organized around global public policy, technology updates, collaboration, industry training and best practices development.
The 21st MAAWG meeting, Feb. 21-24 in Orlando, Fla., will bring together top messaging and security experts from around the world. Other speakers include US Internet Service Provider Association (USISPA) Executive Director Kate Dean on upcoming cybersecurity legislation and experts discussing European and Canadian legislation and public policy developments. Other panels will feature researchers on current botnet assessments and the latest spam metrics. Specialists will address social abuse, mobile anti-abuse techniques, IPv6, assisting phished users, authentication, and blocklists. MAAWG also will be working with network operators at the meeting to begin compiling the industry’s first report of bot metrics generated directly from ISPs.
The meeting will open with several technical training sessions. Professional courses will cover mobile architecture and abuse scenarios, spam traps and honeypots, implementing DNSSec, and crimeware attribution.
On Feb. 22, McKenna, who is the incoming NAAG president and currently Washington state attorney general, will discuss his hands-on activities to protect consumers in cyberspace. He has received several awards for his online safety work, was named in 2008 as one of the most influential people in the security industry, and has been an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership since 2006.
Vladeck, director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission, will address MAAWG on Feb. 23. The bureau under Vladeck’s management has aggressively targeted spammers and consumer cyber threats, and is also focusing on mobile and social media abuse.
MAAWG continues to grow in membership and breadth adding a third track of sessions on Tuesday to accommodate the demand to address evolving cybersecurity issues, according to MAAWG Chairman Michael O’Reirdan. MAAWG holds three meetings each year, including a European meeting that will be in Paris this October.
“With online messaging expanding into social media, mobile and other platforms, MAAWG members are working extremely hard to protect consumers. These meetings are a unique opportunity to collaborate with industry colleagues from around the world. International cooperation is the only way to address this international problem,” O’Reirdan said.
About the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG)
The Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) is where the messaging industry comes together to work against spam, viruses, denial-of-service attacks and other online exploitation. MAAWG (www.MAAWG.org) represents more than one billion mailboxes from some of the largest network operators worldwide. It is the only organization addressing messaging abuse holistically by systematically engaging all aspects of the problem, including technology, industry collaboration and public policy. MAAWG leverages the depth and experience of its global membership to tackle abuse on existing networks and new emerging services. It also works to educate global policy makers on the technical and operational issues related to online abuse and messaging. Headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., MAAWG is an open forum driven by market needs and supported by major network operators and messaging providers.
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Media Contact: Linda Marcus, APR, 714-974-6356, LMarcus@astra.cc, Astra Communications
MAAWG Board of Directors: AOL; AT&T (NYSE: T); Bank of America; Cloudmark, Inc.; Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA); Cox Communications; Eloqua; France Telecom (NYSE and Euronext: FTE); Goodmail Systems; Openwave Systems (NASDAQ: OPWV); PayPal; Return Path, Inc.; Time Warner Cable; Verizon Communications; and Yahoo! Inc.
MAAWG Full Members: 1&1 Internet AG; Antevenio; Apple Inc.; Cisco Systems, Inc.; Constant Contact (CTCT); e-Dialog; Edatis; Email Sender and Provider Coalition; Experian CheetahMail; Genius.com; Internet Initiative Japan, (IIJ NASDAQ: IIJI); McAfee Inc.; Scality; Spamhaus; Sprint; Symantec; Trend Micro, Inc.; YouSendIt; and
Zynga, Inc.
A complete member list is available at /about/roster.
MAAWG Comments on ICANN FY 11 Update to Plan for Enhancing Internet Security, Stability & Resiliency
MAAWG Develops First Industry Best Practices for Protecting Web Messaging Consumers; Also Issues Practices for Email Complaint Feedback Loops and Evaluating Anti-Abuse Products for Email Operators
San Francisco, October 28, 2010 –The first industry best practices to help Web messaging and social networking operators protect users of their Web mail, direct messaging and SMS services from spam and other cyber attacks have been released by the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG). MAAWG also published two other new best practices papers clarifying conventional email processes for incorporating consumer complaint feedback loops and to assist ISPs in evaluating anti-abuse tools.
The Web messaging best practices are a significant industry undertaking aimed at protecting consumers. As users migrate to social media and Web mail, cyber criminals are modifying their spam and malware distribution techniques to take advantage of these venues. Spammers use Web mail accounts to send bot-infected emails; they promote malicious websites in text added to article sharing and invite emails; and they send abusive direct messages to site users, among other illicit processes.
The MAAWG Best Common Practices for Mitigating Abuse of Web Messaging Systems provides recommendations that network and site engineers can use to identify abusive messaging and block spammers. Among the topics described in the paper are methods to:
- Monitor a site, including auditing user account metrics and possible abusive transactions
- Tighten user interface security, such as requiring users to register before posting or sending messages
- Requiring CAPTCHA verification, the distorted text users enter when registering or submitting content
- Limiting how often users can access a Web service or how many messages can be sent
- Applying the appropriate content filtering techniques
- Developing effective abuse response messages
“While users are benefiting from innovative Web messaging services, cyber criminals just see another channel to steal sensitive consumer information or send spam loaded with viruses and bots. That’s why sharing information among the professional messaging community about what has been working to keep the spammers at bay is so important. The recommendations outlined in the MAAWG best practices are meant to preserve a safe online experience and protect users,” said Michael O’Reirdan, MAAWG chairman.
Both the Web messaging and the other two new best practices are available at the MAAWG website at /published-documents. The 21st MAAWG General Meeting also will focus on protecting online users and will be held in Orlando, Florida, Feb. 22-24, 2011. Earlier this month, more than 350 messaging security and public policy experts attended the organization’s meeting in Washington, D.C., during a working event that included 35 panels, presentations and information sharing sessions.
Clarifying Best Practices for Providing and Using Email Complaint Feedback Loops
Addressing conventional email, another new MAAWG best practices paper focuses on a common mechanism used to identify and manage consumer complaints about unwanted messages. When users hit the “junk mail” or “spam” button in their inbox to identify an abusive message, a complaint notice is sent back to the service provider. These responses are channeled into a complaint feedback process used by network operators, mailbox providers, email vendors and bulk senders to improve spam filtering and help senders increase deliverability by adjusting their mailing practices.
While many de facto standards for sharing this feedback have developed over the years, the MAAWG Complaint Feedback Loop Best Current Practices is the first document to clearly describe existing accepted procedures. It outlines the process and recommended policies, including privacy concerns, for both the mailbox providers who collect the data from their users and the bulk senders or vendors who receive the resulting complaint reports.
Evaluating Email Anti-Abuse Solutions
Also important to the industry, the MAAWG Email Anti-Abuse Product Evaluation Best Current Practices outlines how to conduct trial evaluations of email anti-abuse products or services. Aimed at email system operators and engineers, the paper offers suggestions on determining functional and business requirements for enterprise anti-abuse products, identifying key performance indicators, multiple product testing and analyzing the results.
About the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG)
The Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) is where the messaging industry comes together to work against spam, viruses, denial-of-service attacks and other online exploitation. MAAWG (www.MAAWG.org) represents overone billion mailboxes from some of the largest network operators worldwide. It is the only organization addressing messaging abuse holistically by systematically engaging all aspects of the problem, including technology, industry collaboration and public policy. MAAWG leverages the depth and experience of its global membership to tackle abuse on existing networks and new emerging services. It also works to educate global policy makers on the technical and operational issues related to online abuse and messaging. Headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., MAAWG is an open forum driven by market needs and supported by major network operators and messaging providers.
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Media Contact: Linda Marcus, APR, 714-974-6356, LMarcus@astra.cc, Astra Communications
MAAWG Board of Directors: AOL; AT&T (NYSE: T); Bank of America; Cloudmark, Inc.; Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA); Cox Communications; Facebook; France Telecom (NYSE and Euronext: FTE); Goodmail Systems; Openwave Systems (NASDAQ: OPWV); Return Path; Tata Communications (NYSE: TCL); Time Warner Cable; Verizon Communications; and Yahoo! Inc.
MAAWG Full Members: 1&1 Internet AG; Apple Inc.; Bizanga LTD; Cisco Systems, Inc.; Constant Contact (CTCT); e-Dialog; Edatis; Eloqua; Experian CheetahMail; Genius.com; Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ NASDAQ: IIJI); McAfee Inc.; PayPal; Return Path, Inc.; Scality; Spamhaus; Sprint; Symantec; YouSendIt; and Zynga, Inc.
A complete member list is available at /about/roster.