Chapter 6 SPAM Synopsis What is spam Why

Chapter 6 SPAM

Synopsis What is spam Why does spam keep coming Specialty spam Why doesn't someone stop the spammers How do spammers get the email addresses Damage caused by spam Quick spam reduction techniques Serious spam control techniques

What is spam is unsolicited email with advertisements, often stupid, sometimes offensive, and rarely with something you want/need. Examples: Free religious t-shirts Beautiful girls from … Organ enhancing meds/herbs Medications . .

Why does spam keep coming It is profitable. (just by the numbers) Note: Many legitimate companies may send you commercial offerings over email after (perhaps in some underhanded manner) getting your premission (opt-in). You may just as easily opt out; the instructions SHOULD be in the email.

Specialty spam Malware and scam distribution Hobbit spam Empty spam SPIM Non-email Spam (posted to dicussion groups, forums, blogs, etc. . . )

Why doesn't someone stop the spammers Very hard to do. . Change IP address Go overseas Over 90% of email today is consistently spam.

How do spammers get the email addresses Website Harvesting Publicly available address books on web-based email sites Dictionary Spamming Commercial email lists Newsgroups, discussion forums, interactive websites Contests. . . Email forwarding Data theft

Damage caused by spam It costs money Wasted Productivity/time Email disconnect Annoying and offensive Danger to children Carries malware and scams Can get you kicked off the net

Quick spam reduction techniques NEVER respond to spam Don't post your email address on the web Don't use mailto, use the code on page 173 Turn off image display in email programs Turn on junk email filtering

Serious spam control techniques Install an anti-spam program Fight back; send emails to abuse at the correct ISP address.