GSMA to recommend SMS Spam Reporting System

The GSMA will recommend that operators to join a program that allows mobile subscribers to report spam using SMS short codes in an attempt to gather more data on a growing nuisance.

The GSMA along with his partner Cloudmark, which makes software for messaging security for operators, has completed a trial in December an SMS spam reporting system which analyzed SMS and aggregated reporting of abuse. AT&T, Bell Mobility, KT (Korea Telecom), SFR, Sprint, Vodafone and the Agency of Internet Security & Korean participated in the pilot.

Users may submit suspected spam using the short code "9,512," which spells spam numerically, said Alan Ranger, vice president for mobile marketing of Cloudmark.

"A lot of people felt really don't have a spam problem, but when we arrived, we found that it was quite serious," said Ranger.

The volume of spam was relatively low, but the attacks have shown a high enough level of sophistication. Most attacks were financially motivated, with other direct users to malicious Web sites, adult content or were simply for legitimate businesses, Ranger, he said.

For example, a scam was a series of messages that a user has informed that someone has had a crush them. If a person has answered, it would sign them for an alleged dating service billed to US $ 60 a month through the vector of person.

SMS spammers often Buy a lot of prepaid SIM cards and send messages until the balance is fully depleted. The problem has gotten so bad in China that most of the SIM cards are only allowed to send 1000 SMS, Ranger, he said.

Some of the worst locale for SMS spam are China and South Korea. A Chinese mobile user can get upwards of 30 spam SMS per day, while those in South Korea report thousands of spam SMS per day.

With the reporting service, spam is forwarded to the operator, who then passes the message to cloud-based system that identifies and Cloudmark blocks suspicious messages. Cloudmark will manage and sell spam reporting service, said Ranger.

"We are hoping to get as many of the networks worldwide, signed it," said Ranger. "At the moment when [users] they see spam, don't know what to do with it. In some countries have phone up the operator, which is the last thing a trader wants. "

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