Posted on 09/06/2006 2:36:59 PM PDT by holymoly
Animated graphics deployed in attempt to manipulate stock market
/noticias.info/ Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have identified a "pump-and-dump" stock spam campaign which uses an animated graphic to display a "subliminal" message to potential investors.
Animated GIF graphics are composed of a number of frames, which are shown in succession. This is often used for animation on websites, but has recently been adopted by spammers in their attempt to try and avoid detection by anti-spam products.
In a spam campaign seen by Sophos researchers an embedded image attempts to artificially inflate the price of shares in a company called Trimax. However, unlike the many other similar scam emails the graphic briefly flashes up a message saying "BUY!!!" approximately every fifteen seconds.
The "BUY!!!" message is comparable to the subliminal messages that have occasionally been used in advertising and political broadcasts to try and subconciously influence people.
"Animated graphics are being used in image spam campaigns to try and weave past filters which may be attempting optical character recognition to decipher the messages that spammers send," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. "This message tries to be subliminal, but it is questionable whether it would successfully subconsciously influence armchair investors into buying more stock. Advanced anti-spam solutions, like those produced by Sophos, are capable of protecting against spam which uses these tricks."
Pump-and-dump stock campaigns work by spammers purchasing stock at a cheap price and then artificially inflating its price by encouraging others to purchase more (often by spamming "good news" about the company to others). The spammers then sell off their stock at a profit. Sophos experts report that pump-and-dump stock campaigns account for approximately 15 percent of all spam, up from 0.8 percent in January 2005.
2006 has seen a sharp rise in the amount of spam containing embedded images, which has risen sharply from 18.2 percent in January to over 35 percent today. By using images instead of text, messages are able to avoid detection by some anti-spam filters that rely on the analysis of textual spam content.
"We have seen image spam being used around the world - not just in English, but languages such as Russian and Italian too," continued Cluley. "It's likely that more and more spam will use the technique to try and get past gateway filters, and computer users should ensure their mailstreams are defended by products which can effectively combat it."
Sophos recommends companies protect themselves with a consolidated solution which can defend against the threats of spam, spyware and viruses.
About Sophos
Sophos is a world leader in integrated threat management solutions, protecting against known and unknown malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam and policy abuse for business, education and government. Sophos's reliably engineered, easy-to-operate products protect more than 35 million users in more than 150 countries. Through 20 years' experience and a global network of threat analysis centers, the company responds rapidly to emerging threats - no matter how complex - and achieves the highest levels of customer satisfaction in the industry.
That is pretty funny.
I went to the site - it flashes briefly, but it is very noticeable. How brief must the flash be, to qualify as "subliminal"?
I don't understand it, but I get this sudden feeling I want to fly through the galaxies. And I want to BUY!
I thought they had to be so brief, you weren't conciously aware of it.
That is the definition of subliminal - below the conscious threshold. Perhaps this spam is merely "virtually" subliminal. lol
I'm guessing a 9/11 conspiracy theorist would say your flash video is of a penguin falling into a hole created by tiny explosives detonated at precisely the moment the adjoining penguin appears (but does not actually) push him.
Ford is behind it. You're supposed to want to buy a Galaxy.
Depends on the viewer. Some of us a pretty slow on the uptake.
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