Jeff Ubois's blog

Richi Jennings has a nice piece on why ISPs need to pay attention to the zombie problem:

Why Should ISPs Fix the Zombie Problem?

Zombies (or bots) are PCs that have become infected with malware that allows malicious remote control of the PC. They are usually herded into botnets and sold to spammers or phishers for the purpose of quickly sending unwanted email. It’s a big problem, but ISPs are in a unique position to fix the problem and should be motivated to do their part. Here’s why:

An ISP can detect when one of its customer’s PCs starts sending spam, either by outbound content control or by spotting an unusual spike in volume. The ISP may even be able to detect the earlier signs of infection, such as connection to an IRC channel used to control the bots.

ISPs should be proactive in quickly fixing such problems. If they don’t, their reputations and the reputations of their customers may be damaged. The spam control industry is quickly waking up to the fact that reputation is a good way to filter incoming SMTP connections, without the expense of content scanning. As this view becomes more prevalent, ISP customers won’t want to be associated with an ISP that takes a cavalier attitude toward its reputation and that of its customers.

My sometime colleague David Ferris offers this perspective on bounce control: IronPort’s Nice New Bounce Control:

Bounced spam is a big and growing problem. What happens is that the spammer sends out email purporting to have you as the sender. Many of the emails sent get bounced back — to you. These bounces-as-a-result-of-forgery are a major cause of irritating backscatter.

Controlling bounced spam is difficult. It’s hard for anti-spam products to tell what’s spam that’s being bounced, as opposed to bona fide email that ends up being bounced back because you mistyped the email address, for example.

IronPort has just released a very nice new feature that should significantly reduce the phony bounced spam that its customers receive, and help users receive the valid bounces that they want/need to see. It’ll also significantly reduce help desk calls — users get perplexed by bounce messages for email they didn’t send.

Simply put, IronPort automatically stamps outgoing email with a watermark*. It then checks incoming bounced email. If it’s got the watermark, the email is let through. It’s based on an IETF draft, Bounce Address Tag Validation (BATV). IronPort’s an early player to adopt this; expect others to do so…

Robin Good at Kolabora offers nice coverage of new collaborative tools. Today there’s a nice summary of recent picks:

Online Collaboration Tools And Resources: Kolabora Picks n.13:

Photo credit: Shared Results ThinkFree: web-based MS-Office compatible suite Gobby: collaborative editor supporting multiple documents in one session and a multi-user chat SnapJots: organize photos, video clips and communications within private group web …

From the Ferris Research weblog:

Rumor has it that MessageLabs is looking for a buyer, and has engaged UBS as investment banker. We believe the rumor to be correct.

All in all, it’s probably a good time for MessageLabs stockholders to sell:

• Generally,
  plenty of M&A interest in the malware field — think of the recent
  acquisition of BlackSpider by SurfControl, and of CipherTrust by Secure
  Computing; and less recently, of FrontBridge by Microsoft.
• MessageLabs is a leading hosted provider, with good technology and people.
• So valuations should be good.
• MessageLabs
  management has many strengths, but it’s not been as good at generating
  profits as shareholders have wished. Merging with another firm
  facilitates the generation of wealth.

The prospectus asserts:

• 61% CAGR since FY02, resulting in an estimated ₤50 million ($92 million) in FY06, with positive growth outlook.
• EBITDA margin of 15% and net income positive in FY06, projected to increase ahead of growth in sales.

One caution: It is easy to mistake the financials of the parent, MessageLabs Group,
with those of the MessageLabs business. That may make MessageLabs’
P&L look rosier. Nothing, however, that due diligence won’t
clarify. …