[aageneral] What SPAM Means: "Stupid People Annoying Me"
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long as the bylines are included.
Original URL (The Web version of the article)
---------------------------------------------
http://www.defendingthenet.com/NewsLetters/WhatSpamMeansToM
e-StupidPeopleAnnoyingMe.htm
Title
-----
What SPAM Means: "Stupid People Annoying Me"
English, German, Italian - It's All SPAM To Me
-----------------------------------------------
Has anyone else noticed the sudden blast of unsolicited
e-mail (spam) loaded with url's for the unsuspecting and
curious Internet surfer to click on? What's even better,
the bulk of this SPAM is in a foreign language. I was
at a neighborhood party this weekend and you can't
imagine the number of people who asked me for assistance
with this. They have no idea what to do.
The sad fact is there are a lot of Stupid People who have
nothing better to do and can't seem to find a better way
of making a buck than Annoying Me and everyone else
subject to their stupidity with spam. I guess that's a
little harsh. Not really.
How Does The Average Person Deal With This
------------------------------------------
I wrote in a previous article how bad a feel for the average
person having to deal with such things. It is increasingly
becoming a nightmare for all to deal with. For the technical
among us, it's not as bad given that we deal with such things
on a technical level almost everyday.
Given this current flood of SPAM I thought I would post an
article I wrote quite some time ago. It's a short article,
and may be old news for some, but I can tell you that many
people still don't follow the basic's when dealing with SPAM.
How You May Be Helping Spammers
----------------------------------------------
I can't imagine that anyone with an e-mail address has not
received unsolicited e-mail or spam in one form or another.
What do you do when you receive these types of e-mails.
Do you delete them right away, respond to them informing
the sender you do not wish to receive them, or forward them
to a friend whom you think might be interested in the
information?
When the Internet as we know it was very young and most
unsolicited e-mails where either by accident or the
result of opt-in subscriptions, you could respond with
the word "unsubscribe" in the reply subject and
your name was taken off the list. That quickly changed
once people found out how powerful a marketing tool
e-mail was. Now, most of the time you respond to
unsolicited e-mails you are letting the sender know that
your e-mail address is active or alive. Instead of being
taken off the list you are targeted more aggressively.
The sender of the e-mail may also sell your e-mail
address to other e-marketers, substantially increasing the
number of unsolicited e-mails your receive.
How Do Spammers Get My E-mail Address
-------------------------------------
Well, there are quite a few ways, but one of the ways
spammers get hold of your e-mail address is literally by
guessing. For instance, say your e-mail address is part
of the domain "-notrealdomain-.com", and your e-mail address
is "me@-notrealdomain-.com", the spammers have programs that
will generate thousands of combinations of names / domains
i.e. "me@-notrealdomain-.com" , "you@-otrealdomain-.com",
"them@-notrealdomain-.com" hoping that somewhere along
the line the target e-mail address exists. It's really
not difficult to do, since a computer can do this over and
over again. If you receive one of these e-mails and reply
to it, you have just informed the sender that they did
indeed find a live address. It's all downhill from there.
Spoofing E-mail Addresses
--------------------------
Another interesting tactic is to send someone an e-mail and
make it appear as if it came from your address. Have you ever
received an e-mail from someone you don't know and don't have
in you contact list asking you to stop sending them
unsolicited e-mails? Many people experience this problem.
Basically, the spammer made the recipient of the spam think
you sent it to them. This is called e-mail spoofing and is
relatively easy to do. The spammers use mail servers that
allow something called "mail relay." This allows them to
send e-mails from any source address (even yours) to any
target address.
Conclusion
----------
A few things to keep in mind when dealing with unsolicited
e-mails and spam:
If you are starting to receive SPAM in alternate languages,
check your e-mail client for the ability to filter / block
SPAM by specifying language types.
If you only speak English, and don't expect to receive
e-mail in German, then block it;
If your SPAM filter downloads data from your vendor for
known SPAM sites make sure to perform and schedule the
download to happen frequently;
If you receive e-mail or spam from someone you don't know,
do not respond to it, just delete it;
If someone informs you that they are receiving spam from
your e-mail address,
inform them that it was not sent by you and most likely came
from a spammer who spoofed your address. Tell them to just
delete it;
Never give out your e-mail address unless you are sure the
site or organization will be responsible for it's privacy;
If you are going to sign up for something like a news
article or other information, read their privacy statement,
agreement, and disclaimer before doing so; And
Review the entire privacy statement to make sure there are
no check boxes or radio buttons on by default. You never
know what you are agreeing to.
These are just a few of the things you can do to help
prevent SPAM from becoming a huge burden. You will most
likely not be able to prevent all SPAM from getting to
your inbox, but you sure can decrease the number.
About The Author
----------------
Darren Miller is an Information Security Consultant with
over sixteen years experience. He has written many
technology & security articles, some of which have been
published in nationally circulated magazines & periodicals.
Darren is astaff writer for www.defendingthenet.com and
several other e-zines. If you would like to contact Darren
you can e-mail him at Darren.Miller@ParaLogic.Net or
DefendTheNet@ParaLogic.Net. If you would like to know
more about computer security please visit us at
http://www.defendingthenet.com. If someone you know has sent
you this article, please take a moment to visit our site and
register for the free newsletter at
http://www.defendingthenet.com/subscribe.htm.
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Original URL (The Web version of the article)
---------------------------------------------
http://www.defendingthenet.com/NewsLetters/WhatSpamMeansToM
e-StupidPeopleAnnoyingMe.htm
Title
-----
What SPAM Means: "Stupid People Annoying Me"
English, German, Italian - It's All SPAM To Me
-----------------------------------------------
Has anyone else noticed the sudden blast of unsolicited
e-mail (spam) loaded with url's for the unsuspecting and
curious Internet surfer to click on? What's even better,
the bulk of this SPAM is in a foreign language. I was
at a neighborhood party this weekend and you can't
imagine the number of people who asked me for assistance
with this. They have no idea what to do.
The sad fact is there are a lot of Stupid People who have
nothing better to do and can't seem to find a better way
of making a buck than Annoying Me and everyone else
subject to their stupidity with spam. I guess that's a
little harsh. Not really.
How Does The Average Person Deal With This
------------------------------------------
I wrote in a previous article how bad a feel for the average
person having to deal with such things. It is increasingly
becoming a nightmare for all to deal with. For the technical
among us, it's not as bad given that we deal with such things
on a technical level almost everyday.
Given this current flood of SPAM I thought I would post an
article I wrote quite some time ago. It's a short article,
and may be old news for some, but I can tell you that many
people still don't follow the basic's when dealing with SPAM.
How You May Be Helping Spammers
----------------------------------------------
I can't imagine that anyone with an e-mail address has not
received unsolicited e-mail or spam in one form or another.
What do you do when you receive these types of e-mails.
Do you delete them right away, respond to them informing
the sender you do not wish to receive them, or forward them
to a friend whom you think might be interested in the
information?
When the Internet as we know it was very young and most
unsolicited e-mails where either by accident or the
result of opt-in subscriptions, you could respond with
the word "unsubscribe" in the reply subject and
your name was taken off the list. That quickly changed
once people found out how powerful a marketing tool
e-mail was. Now, most of the time you respond to
unsolicited e-mails you are letting the sender know that
your e-mail address is active or alive. Instead of being
taken off the list you are targeted more aggressively.
The sender of the e-mail may also sell your e-mail
address to other e-marketers, substantially increasing the
number of unsolicited e-mails your receive.
How Do Spammers Get My E-mail Address
-------------------------------------
Well, there are quite a few ways, but one of the ways
spammers get hold of your e-mail address is literally by
guessing. For instance, say your e-mail address is part
of the domain "-notrealdomain-.com", and your e-mail address
is "me@-notrealdomain-.com", the spammers have programs that
will generate thousands of combinations of names / domains
i.e. "me@-notrealdomain-.com" , "you@-otrealdomain-.com",
"them@-notrealdomain-.com" hoping that somewhere along
the line the target e-mail address exists. It's really
not difficult to do, since a computer can do this over and
over again. If you receive one of these e-mails and reply
to it, you have just informed the sender that they did
indeed find a live address. It's all downhill from there.
Spoofing E-mail Addresses
--------------------------
Another interesting tactic is to send someone an e-mail and
make it appear as if it came from your address. Have you ever
received an e-mail from someone you don't know and don't have
in you contact list asking you to stop sending them
unsolicited e-mails? Many people experience this problem.
Basically, the spammer made the recipient of the spam think
you sent it to them. This is called e-mail spoofing and is
relatively easy to do. The spammers use mail servers that
allow something called "mail relay." This allows them to
send e-mails from any source address (even yours) to any
target address.
Conclusion
----------
A few things to keep in mind when dealing with unsolicited
e-mails and spam:
If you are starting to receive SPAM in alternate languages,
check your e-mail client for the ability to filter / block
SPAM by specifying language types.
If you only speak English, and don't expect to receive
e-mail in German, then block it;
If your SPAM filter downloads data from your vendor for
known SPAM sites make sure to perform and schedule the
download to happen frequently;
If you receive e-mail or spam from someone you don't know,
do not respond to it, just delete it;
If someone informs you that they are receiving spam from
your e-mail address,
inform them that it was not sent by you and most likely came
from a spammer who spoofed your address. Tell them to just
delete it;
Never give out your e-mail address unless you are sure the
site or organization will be responsible for it's privacy;
If you are going to sign up for something like a news
article or other information, read their privacy statement,
agreement, and disclaimer before doing so; And
Review the entire privacy statement to make sure there are
no check boxes or radio buttons on by default. You never
know what you are agreeing to.
These are just a few of the things you can do to help
prevent SPAM from becoming a huge burden. You will most
likely not be able to prevent all SPAM from getting to
your inbox, but you sure can decrease the number.
About The Author
----------------
Darren Miller is an Information Security Consultant with
over sixteen years experience. He has written many
technology & security articles, some of which have been
published in nationally circulated magazines & periodicals.
Darren is astaff writer for www.defendingthenet.com and
several other e-zines. If you would like to contact Darren
you can e-mail him at Darren.Miller@ParaLogic.Net or
DefendTheNet@ParaLogic.Net. If you would like to know
more about computer security please visit us at
http://www.defendingthenet.com. If someone you know has sent
you this article, please take a moment to visit our site and
register for the free newsletter at
http://www.defendingthenet.com/subscribe.htm.
########################################################
Looking For Quality Content?
The Syndicator provides free, quality syndicated articles
for your website that are automatically updated each week.
Syndication feeds include:
Business/Sales
Internet Marketing/Promotion
Web Design/Development
Biz Tips
Web Design Tips
Home & Family Matters
Dinner Ideas
Health & Fitness
Horoscopes
AngelVoice
Headlines
and more...
http://www.web-source.net/syndicator.htm
########################################################
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