12 spam research projects that might make a difference

Those who commit cybercrime know they need to stay on the cutting edge of technology to come up with new and different ways to swindle people. Luckily, the good guys are also spending time in research labs developing ways to thwart the latest tricks employed by spammers, phishers and other criminals.

Below is a list of a dozen research projects underway that focus on new technology and techniques to stop spam. While in many cases these projects are reacting to exploits already in use, such as image spam and phishing, the work by these researchers is designed to counter spammers’ current developments and may also lead to prevention of future ones. This list, by no means complete, contains select papers recently made public.

Image spam

Spam filter makers were stumped when image spam made its debut last fall; by hiding the spam message inside an image that filters couldn’t discern, spammers got their messages through to in-boxes.