Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG) October General Meeting to Address Online Attacks and Abuse, Privacy and Data Protection and the Role of AI in Abuse Prevention

Keynote to Examine Threats, Including Spyware, That Threaten Digital Communications

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG) will host its 53rd general meeting October 11-14 virtually. Members from internet service and email providers, networking and communications companies, security vendors and social networking companies will exchange updates, ideas and efforts to improve cybersecurity, reduce online abuse and protect user data and privacy online.

Ron Deibert, professor of political science and director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto, will deliver a keynote address October 12. He will discuss the work of the lab including networking infrastructure, media and disinformation and espionage efforts targeting journalists, researchers and activists worldwide. The lab has been active in exposing spyware, including the Pegasus product, to surveil these groups.

“M3AAWG and its members have done highly useful and beneficial work to identify and mitigate online abuse, consistent with the work we are doing here at the Citizen Lab,” noted Deibert. “We welcome the opportunity to share what we are doing and collaborate with attendees on further inroads to protect the digital interactions so critical to our personal, professional and civil discourse.”

M3AAWG also will honor a member of industry with its coveted J.D. Falk Award recognizing a particularly meritorious project undertaken by a dedicated individual or group reflecting the spirit of volunteerism and community building.

Meeting sessions will give attendees updates and opportunities to learn about Magecart and Java injection attacks, preventing criminal use of multifactor authentication, dealing with trauma in anti-abuse work, preventing spam in mail and apps, and using AI in cloud DDOS protection. Other sessions will tackle the recent U.S. cybersecurity order, privacy and tracking, and dealing with industries that are abusive online.

A number of working group and committee sessions also will be held for M3AAWG members.

More information about the 53rd general meeting can be found at https://www.m3aawg.org/upcoming-meetings and Twitter (@M3AAWG), LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. Session updates and more info also will be posted on the blog.

About the Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M³AAWG)

The Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M³AAWG) is where the industry comes together to work against bots, malware, spam, viruses, denial-of-service attacks and other online exploitation. M³AAWG (www.m3aawg.org) members represent more than one billion mailboxes from some of the largest network operators worldwide. It leverages the depth and experience of its global membership to tackle abuse on existing networks and new emerging services through technology, collaboration, and public policy. It also works to educate global policy makers on the technical and operational issues related to online abuse and messaging. Headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., M³AAWG is driven by market needs and supported by major network operators and messaging providers.