ShadowServer handed ACMA's spam intel database

Businesses could get better intelligence on the spam and phishing campaigns targeting their customers after the government communications watchdog provided spam-fighting organisation ShadowServer access to its Spam Intelligence Database.

Credit: Cookipedia

The Australian Communications and Media Authority's database contains contextual information on spam from the deluge of malicious emails the agency receives each day.

The database source code provided to ShadowServer's network of security researchers will help them identify and inform companies targeted in spam emails and analyse how the attacks were conducted.

A ShadowServer volunteer from the Australian chapter said the respected non-profit organisation had not to date analysed the vast amount of spam it received daily.

"It will allow us to more easily share data with the community," he said.

"The ACMA system knows how pull apart spam and that will allow us to alert brands."

ShadowServer analyses and disrupts online attack campaigns under a non-invasive policy. It was formed as an independent source of intelligence to law enforcement and the white-hat security community, specifically aiming to shore-up botnet investigative and control techniques and improve malware analysis.

It provides the ACMA with intelligence on attacks and malware campaigns, which in turn passes the information to internet providers and universities.

It has yet to determine how it would use the open source spam database. The ACMA provided the platform to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the Netherlands telco watchdog (Onafhankelijke Post en Telecommunicatie Autoriteit) and New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs.

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