Question:

How can I keep spam out of my mailbox?

Spam, The Internet's Junk Mail

Spam is the electronic equivalent of junk mail. Spam can be dangerous though and a good spam filter is an important component to your computer security. Quite often it contains links to Web sites. Be careful of clicking on these because you may accidentally a tiny subprogram (called a "cookie") that provides relays information from your machine to an outside party, or opens a backdoor to your computer.

The Meaning of Spam

Today, the word "spam" has mutated from a form of canned meat to a form of abusing the internet. There is both the noun, "My mailbox is full of spam", and the verb: "The hackers were spamming the company database with useless data". Although the word was part of the computer expert's nomenclature years before, it entered popular usage in 1994 after a couple of Phoenix lawyers sent an unsolicited advertisement to USENET, which is a massive collection of message boards on every topic imaginable. The word "spam" was used to identify this unwanted traffic. The name stuck. Today an entire industry exists to create spam filters, spam blockers and email spam filters.

Spam Fighters

Many people in the internet security community are dedicated spam-fighters. "Thee BlueList" is a list of well-known anti-spam activists, used by spammers to target these people for harassment. The full name is "Thee BlueList of Internet Complainers" and is maintained by someone known only as Thee BlueLister, whose trademark is spelling "the" as "thee." The current incarnation is known as the Brown List.

Making the Most of Spam Blockers

While passing laws to limit spammers and create punishments for convicted spammers has helped, the real solutions to reducing spam depends on cooperation between ISPs and consumers who are proactive about protecting their personal and business systems. Talk to your ISP about the options they have available to their customers for fighting spam, and make sure your system is equipped with good email spam filters and spam blockers.

The Spam Achilles Heel

The Achilles heel of the spammers is their message. They can circumvent any other barrier a spam blocker sets up. But they have to deliver their message, whatever it is. If we can write email spam filters that recognizes their messages, there is no way they can get around that. Think about how you delete spam from your mailbox. You look at the content for words and phrases or other things that don't look right to you. That's because your brain has its own "content-based filter". Content-based filtering systems used in connection with a sound statistical model are still one of the most effective ways to keep spam out of your mailbox.

Email Spam Blockers

New spam blocker technology being adopted by large internet companies is having some positive effects. Yahoo! appears to have tackled the problem effectively with its in-house designed "SpamGuard." Their statistics show a 40 percent rise in junk mail sent between March and September, but a 66 percent decline in spam actually getting through to users. Especially effective is the option that allows uses to identify an email as spam, thereby funneling any follow up messages into the "Spam Folder" in the email inbox.

Internet Safety Frequently Asked Questions

What is an internet filter?

Can I filter internet content about drugs and alcohol?

Can I filter content about hate and criminal behavior?

What are some of the filtering criteria offered by internet filtering?

Can internet filtering block good or informational websites?

What can an internet report show me?

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Why should I use a porn blocker?

Why is a porn blocker so important?

How did computer hacking start?

What can you tell me about hackers?

What are computer viruses and how do they work?

What is a Trojan Horse program and how does it work?

How can I protect myself from viruses and Trojan horse programs?

How can I protect my computer's data?

What should I do if I think my computer is infected by a virus?

How can a firewall protect my computer?

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How have computer viruses evolved?

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What are computer viruses and how do they work?

How can I protect myself from viruses and Trojan horse programs?

What organizations exist to help combat computer crime?

How can a firewall protect my computer?

How can I protect myself from viruses and Trojan horse programs?

How can a firewall protect my computer?

How did computer hacking start?

What organizations exist to help combat computer crime?

How can I protect myself from viruses and Trojan horse programs?

How have computer viruses evolved?

What can you tell me about hackers?

How do I get rid of pop-ups?

How can I keep spam out of my mailbox?

What anti-spam laws exist?

What is spyware and how do I stop it?

How do I get rid of pop-ups?

How can a firewall protect my computer?





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