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Spam
A word all of us have learned to
hate. Spam (and I am
not talking about the sandwich meat). Advertisers litter our inboxes with
junk mail and pop up advertising to the point where it actually gets in the way
of normal activity, but what do you do about it. Below you will find some
helpful information which will help you understand what it is and how to keep it
under control.
About Spam:
Sending spam email is cheap! A spammer can send out a direct marketing
email to hundreds even thousands of recipients for under one cent. Believe it or not, people buy things
from the pop-up ads and reply to junk email. This is how it starts. NEVER EVER BUY
ANY GOODS OR SERVICES ADVERTISED BY SPAM! It just encourages more spam.
If there is something advertised by spam you are actually interested in, find
it somewhere else online. Spammers are making a lot of money by swamping your
inbox because they consider it the most effective form of marketing. If they
send out 10,000 emails and they get even 100 responses these are the odds they
are looking for. Unfortunately, they do not take into consideration your privacy
concerns in the process. So the real
question is….
How Do Spammers Get My Email Address?
The most popular question we hear about spam: “How did my email address
become public knowledge?” The companies and persons responsible for spam are
very determined, technically savvy internet users.
By innocently signing up for a subscription, adding yourself to an interest
group or a multitude of other methods, you may be added to a spammers mailing
list whether you want to or not. Email addresses are becoming a commodity on the
internet and bought and sold freely between companies. Read the fine print
whenever you sign up for that book club or placing an order online with your
email address. Chances are in the fine print you will find something relating to
distributing your email address and the option to be excluded from the mailing
list. Look for it next time.
Once spam starts it is very difficult to stop. By installing a “spam or
pop-up blocker” it will greatly reduce the amount of annoying junk mail or
pop-up advertising. Without some form of defense it will only get worse. Keep
scrolling for a long list of FREE utilities to help you fight the battle. Also
see Spyware.
REALITY:
You may be aware of one or more of the following “tactics” of getting your
email address and abusing that information to bombard you with trash. Below is a
list of the more popular methods of getting your address:
- They buy your name from a list:
These junk mail & targeted email lists have been around almost as long
as the internet itself. For as cheap as $100.00 anyone can buy a list of
over 11 million addresses. These lists we’re created by numerous
unscrupulous website owners, and online stores that would “share” their
customer’s information for some money. As you can imagine it is impossible
for spammers to identify your likes, or interests, when sending mails to
such a large group. So a “shotgun” mailing is sent out, product offers,
get rich quick schemes, adult porn sites, Korean & Chinese mailings, are
all sent out to all 11 million names.
- Opt-in Lists:
These two little words (or one hyphenated one however you look at it) are
quickly becoming infuriating. These lists are developed by partnering with
legitimate websites which make you check “Don’t send me offers”, well
sooner or later you’ll forget to check one of the boxes, and you’re
added to an opt-in list. Although many opt-in lists are legitimate and will
honor your removal requests, for every one there are three that are not
truly “opt-in” lists. You ask to be removed from an email from
“MarkertingPartners Ltd”, and tomorrow you get two messages saying you
opted-in at one of the partner sites of “SuperOptIn Ltd”.
- Email Extractors:
These software tools are very skilled at scouring the internet for email
addresses. Websites, Forums, Alumni sites, news posts, etc. These robots can
locate thousands of email addresses an hour. And spammers run them day and
night.
- MX Server Extractors:
These programs exploit internet mail server protocols. When an email is sent
to you it is handed over to your Mail Provider’s server, which starts
“communication” with the sender. The sender’s server asks to deliver a
message to a user on your server, but before the message is actually
accepted by your server it wants to know who it the mail is addressed to. So
your address is sent over, and your server replies whether the name is OK,
or the address does not exist on the server (what happens when a message is
“bounced” back to you). Basically the MX server extractors mimic the
communication without actually trying to send the message. Think of it as
someone ringing your doorbell and asking if “Joe” is home, no one named
Joe may live at your house, however if the person at your door tries enough
names sooner or later the may stumble upon yours, and you will say
“Yes”. (You are smart enough to stop answering after the first or second
name guess however most email servers are not). Programs exist that can mine
over 5000 email addresses per minute, and believe it or not they sell for
less than $100.00.
- Viruses, Spyware, and Mailicous Code:
Viruses & spyware transparently load themselves or are sent via email to
your mail client. As soon as you open books, contact lists, and distribution
lists, and “report” their findings back them, the read you address to
home base.
HOW DO I GET RID OF IF?
Fortunately there are many programs that work pretty well at eliminating and
blocking spammers. You will use a different program depending on the type of ISP
you use. AOL will use something different than Outlook users for example. Visit
our Downloads page for easy access to a couple of
popular Spam blockers.....all FREE. Below is a large list of Spam Freeware and
Shareware programs...take your pick.
Also see Outlook for
additional defenses against Spam and What is Spyware
Other Software Resources
[PC World Best]
| Reorder the list by clicking on the category
header. |
IHateSpam
v3.2.57
Eliminate junk with this robust, well-behaved
filter add-on for Microsoft Outlook. |
Trial |
Apr
2003 |
Spam
Inspector
Filter spam with this software, which uses
semantic pattern matching. |
Shareware |
Apr
2003 |
Spam
Alarm v2.0
Stop unwanted messages by filtering them against
15,000 spam messages. |
Shareware |
Apr
2003 |
SpamPal
v1.14
Separate spam from the mail you really want to
read. |
Free |
Apr
2003 |
Spam
Bully
Block offending spammers, but ensure that you
don't miss anything important. |
Shareware |
Apr
2003 |
Spamnix
Ferret out spam and unceremoniously dump it into
the trash with this Eudora plug-in. |
Trial |
Apr
2003 |
SpamCatcher
Eliminate spam by creating rules that identify and
blacklist bulk email. |
Shareware |
Apr
2003 |
SpamKiller
v4.0
Stop spam dead in its tracks and let the sender
know about it. |
Shareware |
Apr
2003 |
Sam
Spade v1.14
Level the playing field against spammers with this
network-query suite of tools. |
Free |
Apr
2003 |
MailWasher
v2.0.40
Powerful tool filters, bounces, blacklists, and
deletes spam. |
Shareware |
Apr
2003 |
GhostSurf
Pro v2.0
Surf the Internet without leaving a trail for
snoops to follow. |
Trial |
Dec
2002 |
SpamNet
v1.0 Beta 6f
Reduce spam in Microsoft Outlook with this no
frills but effective tool. |
Free |
Oct
2002 |
Garbage
Man
Thwart the build-up of unwanted mail in your AOL
account. |
Shareware |
Sep
2002 |
[ZDNet]
Server-based software
Server-based software can run on your mail
server or on a separate machine. It checks for e-mail from known spammers and
filters messages based on e-mail headers, and transport information, and
content.
ActiveState
PerlMx v2.1
Works with: SMTP, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX
Notable features: LDAP integration. Pattern matching. Spam definitions.
Real-time blackhole list and whitelists. Heuristic analysis of message content.
Virus protection.
Clearswift
MailSweeper for SMTP
Works with: Microsoft Exchange, SMTP
Notable features: Analyzes incoming and outgoing e-mail at the Internet
gateway. Screens e-mails based on source, content, and destination. LDAP
integration. Policy management for senders and recipients.
Clearswift
MailSweeper for Exchange
Works with: Microsoft Exchange
Notable features: LDAP integration. Policy management for senders and
recipients. Removes inappropriate attachments. Manages undesirable file types.
Clearswift
MailSweeper for Domino
Works with: Lotus Domino
Notable features: LDAP integration. Policy management for senders and
recipients. Removes inappropriate attachments. Manages undesirable file types.
*Cloudmark
SpamNet
Works with: Microsoft Outlook
Notable features: This free add-on for Microsoft Outlook runs in the
background, and shares each user's spam with a global database that determines
what messages the network blocks.
CMS
Praetor for Lotus Domino
Works with: Lotus Domino
Notable features: Uses real-time blackhole lists to identify known spam
domains (requires subscription to MAPS). Rules wizard permits construction of
administrator-defined custom filters.
CMS
Praetor for Microsoft Exchange Server
Works with: Microsoft Exchange
Notable features: Uses real-time blackhole lists to identify known spam
domains(requires subscription to MAPS). Rules wizard permits construction of
administrator-defined custom filters.
CMS
Praetor for SMTP
Works with: SMTP
Notable features: Uses real-time blackhole lists to identify known spam
domains (requires subscription to MAPS). Rules wizard permits construction of
administrator-defined custom filters.
Elron
IM Message Inspector
Works with: Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange
Notable features: Analyzes the context of messages and ranks their
relevance. Built-in Web-based reporting. Anti-virus software available. (Download
demo)
GFi
MailSecurity for Exchange/SMTP 7
Works with: SMTP, Microsoft Exchange
Notable features: Content checking rules engine. Quarantines messages
with macros. Approval of quarantined messages via moderator client or e-mail
client.
GFi
MailEssentials for Exchange/SMTP
Works with: SMTP, Microsoft Exchange
Notable features: Analysis of e-mail content and header information.
Checks for domain validity. Archives inbound and outbound e-mail. Upgrade
available with virus protection.
Lyris
MailShield Server
Works with: Windows 2000, Solaris, Linux, FreeBSD
Notable features: Links to MAPS or ORBL. E-mail filter management via Web
browser. Integrates with third-party anti-virus products.
Mail-Filters
SpamCure
Works with: Windows 2000
Notable features: Mail filters. New spam signatures incorporated into
filters. No anti-virus features.
Marshal
MailMarshal
Works with: Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange, SMTP
Notable features: Archive unpacking: Scans multi-level .zip files.
Supports MAPS. Usage reports. LDAP support. Supports third-party anti-virus
products.
NAI
WebShield SMTP
Works with: SMTP
Notable features: Remote management via SMTP client. Auto virus
definition updates. Statistics on number of e-mails scanned, infected, and
filtered for content.
SurfControl
SuperScout E-mail Filter for SMTP/Exchange
Works with: SMTP, Microsoft Exchange
Notable features: Transmits non-essential e-mail after business hours.
User-customizable keyword dictionaries. Remote administration.
Sybari
Antigen 6.2 for Microsoft Exchange
Works with: Microsoft Exchange
Notable features: Multiple scan engine support. Scans multi-level .zip
files. SMTP and M: drive scanning. Deleted files replaced with customizable text
file.
Symantec
Mail-Gear
Works with: SMTP
Notable features: Multithreaded SMTP mail handler. Supports Eudora and
Netscape Mail. Supports e-mail scanning in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel,
PowerPoint, text, and Adobe PDF.
Tumbleweed
Secure Mail (MMS)
Works with: SMTP
Notable features: Filters messages based on end-user or domain address,
or other criteria. Scans content of inbound and outbound messages. Strips
portions of outbound message header.
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