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directory harvest attack

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directory harvest attack

A method spammers use to obtain valid email addresses. In a directory harvest attack, random names are generated and sent out to valid domains. If an undeliverable message does not return, the address is assumed to be genuine. Random names are easy to generate from any electronic phone book because many organizations standardize on conventions such as first name letter and last name or first name and last name letter; for example, John Doe could be jdoe@xyz.com or johnd@xyz.com. See spam.
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References in periodicals archive
In April, the service made its biggest impact when it detected the directory harvest attack. After receiving Oaks' call, a mailMAX engineer recognized the signs of the attack, a scenario where spammers send tens of thousand of blank e-mails to every possible combination of user names at a particular company.
CPA firm defends against spam: outsourced security service provides cost savings and increased staff productivity
The USPTO has deployed the MailGate products to block viruses, spam, phishing attacks and 'Dark Traffic' including e-mail-based threats such as e-mail denial of service (DoS) attacks and directory harvest attacks (DHA).
US Patent and Trademark Office deploys Tumbleweed's MailGate products
Tumbleweed said Dark Traffic, which includes e-mail DoS attacks, Directory Harvest Attacks (DHA), malformed SMTP packets and invalid recipient addresses, accounted for 83% of the inbound e-mail network traffic processed by enterprises from July through to September 2005.
Tumbleweed reports 300% increase in DoS attacks
McAfee Secure Messaging Services combine McAfee's and Postini's security expertise, providing customers with a solution that offers automatic and proactive e-mail protection against spam, phishing, viruses, inappropriate content, denial of service attacks and directory harvest attacks, the company claims.
McAfee announces new secure messaging service
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