Detecting and Combating Malicious Email

Chapter 1

Introduction

Abstract

Malicious messaging is electronic messaging, including text messages, social media postings, email, and other electronic messages, that is potentially bad for the recipient. A very large variety of malicious messaging exists, ranging from scam attempts to messages with embedded computer viruses. The use of messaging systems for malicious purposes is not new: examples of the misuse of the mail range back to 1838. The challenge of recognizing and not falling victim to malicious messaging is complicated by the cleverness of the senders, who are motivated to convince recipients of the legitimacy of the messages. This is not only a challenge to individual users, but also for those who care for elderly or developmentally ...