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March 15, 2003
How to Fight Spam
By Jeffrey Branzburg
This page is designed specifically with the new-to-technology educator in mind. Please feel free to reproduce it for use in your teacher training sessions or other staff development efforts.
Watermarks, Headers, and Footers
What is spam? If you know the word "e-mail" then you know the word "spam"-the unwanted, junk e-mails we all receive on a daily basis. Over 30 percent of all e-mail is unsolicited; it is estimated that by mid-2003 spam will exceed non-spam e-mails. Where did the term "spam" come from? The Hormel Corporation, producers of SPAM Luncheon Meat, say that it was adopted "as a result of the Monty Python skit in which a group of Vikings sang a chorus of 'SPAM, SPAM, SPAM . . .' in an increasing crescendo, drowning out other conversation. Hence, the analogy applied because junk e-mail drowns out normal discourse on the Internet."
How do spammers get my e-mail address?
Have you ever registered with a Web site? Completed a Web form? Posted a message on a Web site? These are some ways spammers can get your address. In addition, if you have an easy-to-remember e-mail address (such as joe@techlearning.com), then you could receive spam as a result of a "dictionary attack"-e-mails sent to every conceivable name or word at your domain. There are computer programs that do this automatically!
How can I fight spam?
Here are some suggestions for reducing the amount of spam you receive:
Ask your e-mail provider for filtering. Although not perfect, many e-mail providers now attempt to filter "junk" e-mails. Hotmail's "junk mail filter," for example, offers three levels of filtering-default (obvious junk mail is caught), enhanced (most junk mail is caught), and exclusive (you only receive e-mail from predetermined addresses). My Hotmail account is set to enhanced; when I just checked I had 6 messages in my inbox and 3 in my junk mail box. Of the 6 in my inbox, 5 were spam.
Use anti-spam software. Download or purchase one of the anti-spam software products (such as Spam Killer, Spam Buster, or SpamCon Foundation). Some are Web services while others are installed onto your computer; some are free while others come at a price. Some of these products claim be able to identify spam by the message header; others generate disposable e-mail addresses for you to use when you register with a Web site.
Opt out. When you do register at a Web site, carefully inspect the little check boxes near the end of the user agreement. While many require that you receive e-mail from them, they also may give you the choice to opt out of receiving e-mail from their "partners." If the opt-in box is preselected, you've just opted in to additional unsolicited e-mail.
To request removal or not? Many spams offer you the opportunity to be removed from their mailing lists. This sounds attractive-just let them know you want to be removed and no more spam! Some people, however, believe that this is just a ploy by spammers to ensure that they are sending to active e-mail addresses-after all, if you respond then your e-mail address is valid. If you do request removal, and find you still receive e-mails from that organization, report it to the Federal Trade Commission by sending a copy of the unwanted or deceptive messages to uce@ftc.gov. The FTC uses the unsolicited e-mails stored in this database to pursue law enforcement actions against people who send deceptive spam e-mail.
Use at least two e-mail accounts. In addition to your regular e-mail account, set one up with one of the free e-mail services and only use it in situations where your e-mail address may be public-for example, posting to a newsgroup or registering with a Web site. This can help minimize the amount of spam in your primary mailbox.
Complain to the spammer's Internet service provider.
Send an e-mail to the spammer's ISP. It may take some sleuthing to determine who the ISP actually is, however-spammers can easily hide their true e-mail address and insert a fake in the "From" or "Reply to" fields. You may need to use a tool such as Sam Spade for Windows (samspade.org/ssw/), which can analyze e-mail headers to find the correct information.
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