Apple's Ping May Be King of Spam

[Michael Essany]

If you haven't already noticed, there's an un-advertised "feature" that comes with Ping, Apple's music social network introduced via iTunes 10 this week. The additional attribute referenced, of course, is spam. And a lot of it. Spammers have surrounded Ping like the paparazzi on Lindsay Lohan outside of a night club. Making matters worse, however, is that sophisticated spammers are targeting legitimate users with "Apple products," and corresponding links claiming to give away "free iPhones" and bestow other unbelievable deals you can't possibly pass up - all in return for filling out a "simple survey."

But it isn't just a few sensitive users bugged by these spammers. Even security firm Sophos is concerned, observing on its official blog that Ping has become a bedrock of spam saying that thew new social network is now "drowning in scams and spams." Because Ping doesn't have any spam filter (at least not at present), rampant spamming has become a major issue only days after the social network's launch.

"If half as many free iPads, iPhones and iPods were being given away as Ping comments might lead you to believe, there will be no reason to bother with going to an Apple Store," a security expert with Sophos wrote. "But if you actually want an Apple device, my advice is to go out and buy one, as filling out surveys will likely only end in tears."

Sophos, however, does make it clear that while Ping has a world of problems with spam at the moment, iTunes 10 remains a very safe, secure software package. To read the rest of the Sophos report, click here.

Sophos

[tudtran]

Apple is putting iads on everything

[Den108]

This is starting to sound like twitter trends and mentions.

[Rizaria]

Glad I didn't install it then.

Since like, iTunes 7 every update has annoyed me in some way. =\ Unless I'm forced, I'll stick with what I have.

[se23]

You dnt have to use ping! U can update but just dnt log into ping

[thetoothfairy]

I read yesterday that this guy was really p***ed because of the spam he got Apple better fix this!

[zoso10]

But hey I could win one of those free iPhones! I've clicked on every link so far but no winner :'(
Hahahaha yeah it's really getting annoying.

[whereswaldo]

I havn't got any spam on ping and don't understand how you can

[back9player]

sophos is a piece of crap security firm... we use them.

[moeZ]

don't think so,, they just realized that... now start disabling accounts..

see example

Twitpic - Share photos on Twitter

[Luppin]

I've never used iTunes for anything other than syncing my music to my iPhone; Windows Media Player does a much better job of organizing my music and recognizing meta-data, not to mention that iTunes sticks out like a sore thumb on a Windows installation. Now with this pretty much doomed-to-fail "Social Network" that Apple's pushing, I'm glad I stayed away.

[politicalslug]

I've already run into fake accounts and weirdos trying to add me to their followed list. Basically it gets more and more like Twitter and Facebook every day.

I've never used iTunes for anything other than syncing my music to my iPhone; Windows Media Player does a much better job of organizing my music and recognizing meta-data, not to mention that iTunes sticks out like a sore thumb on a Windows installation. Now with this pretty much doomed-to-fail "Social Network" that Apple's pushing, I'm glad I stayed away.

I've always thought of iTunes as the best music management software. It definitely lacks a lot of the functionality and stability of Media Player, but it makes up for that in simplicity and elegance. I began using iTunes in 2003, a year before I my first iPod. Of course it's slow, unwieldy, and only good for music (not video of any sort).

[macsoldier]

This is a huge deal, Im sure Apple will do something about it, they need to put the same restrictions they put on there iDevices to the iAds and that will settle everything. What really gets my nerve are the Ads that pop up in the middle of your screen and the X-close button is in the ad so if you just slip a little bit you have now opened ten other ads. Or the ones where your doing nothing "scandalous" and then this crazy match.com ad shows up right when your wife walks in and your like uhhh uhhhh yea, there needs to be restrictions on this crap.

[iphone4idiots]

@whereswaldo Well one place is in the comments. I followed Rick Rubin and a song he liked had 80 comments. At least 10 of those were for "a free iPhone" with a link to the same website.

[Jahooba]

I'm sure they'll add something. The only news I've heard about this service is how it's flooded with spam. Apple can't be happy about that.

They should link it to your apple.com account, so you need a credit card on file as proof of identity.

[moeZ]

I'm sure they'll add something. The only news I've heard about this service is how it's flooded with spam. Apple can't be happy about that.

They should link it to your apple.com account, so you need a credit card on file as proof of identity.

but they can create accounts without credit cards.

read how to create accounts without credit cards

moe sat Says: Get an itunes US store account without Credit card!

[smuggler]

I'm not updating to iTunes 10 because of this. We need to find an alternative

[iphone4idiots]

I'm not updating to iTunes 10 because of this. We need to find an alternative

Not that I think there is any reason to update to iTunes 10, but to be clear, Ping is its own separate tab whether on your computer or iPhone. Thus, you don't have to look at it ever if you don't want to.

[cheet0]

I have no desire to use anything Ping related.

[awesomeSlayer]

Can you just block the spams?