Dealing with Spam
Postman Spam
Spam is perhaps one of the most annoying things that comes with having an email address. It is literally the equivilant of having your mail box continually cluttered with junk mail you did not authorize. The only difference is that in this case your mail box is the electronic one used to receive email.
Spam is advertising based and is known in the business as unsolicited commercial email or “UCE”. Its purpose and intention is to direct you as a potential customer toward the product it is advertising. It has been postulated that almost half of the email on the net is spam, this uses a fair amount of resource and cost money to control it. It might also be said that it will never stop, but it may only be slowed to an extent.
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To give you a better understanding of what spam is and does you first of all need to know the basics. Let’s begin by looking at your email address, it is the virtual equivilant of your home and street address. You can well imagine that if all the “junk mail” advertisers had your address they would no doubt send you all their junk mail in the hope that you might one day make a purchase from it.
Spam works exactly the same way, only difference is, that it cost advertises next to nothing to fill your electronic mail box full of trash compared to printed media in your real mail box.
Based on the above analogy should you continue to stay at your home address forever then you will continue to receive junk mail. So in effect you still have the same email address.
Spam works exactly the same way, only difference is, that it cost advertises next to nothing to fill your electronic mail box full of trash compared to printed media in your real mail box.
Based on the above analogy should you continue to stay at your home address forever then you will continue to receive junk mail. So in effect you still have the same email address.
Let’s say you decided to move house, so your address has changed and advertisers keep sending junk mail to your old address, what happens? Well you no longer receive junk mail because advertisers do not know your new address, so this is the equilivant of a new email address. In fact having a new email address is a short term cure for spam, this will stop it for a little while but you still need to exercise vigilance and observe a few rules.
The good news is that there are a few things you can do to help control it, these typically involve learning and implementing a few basic rules to help stem the flow of UCE.
Rules to avoid Spam:
Rules to avoid Spam:
· Never make purchases from spam mail
· Never click the “unsubscribe” as this verifies your legitimate email address
· Never click any links in the email
· Never open the email or any if the sender is unknown to you
· Always use the “blind sender” (BCC) for sending to multiple addresses
· Be cautious what websites you place your email address on
· Use a bogus email for suspect sites
· Have more than one email address keeping your personal one private
· Only give out your email to trusted people
· If you do not know the sender? <DELETE>
· If in doubt? <DELETE>
· Never click the “unsubscribe” as this verifies your legitimate email address
· Never click any links in the email
· Never open the email or any if the sender is unknown to you
· Always use the “blind sender” (BCC) for sending to multiple addresses
· Be cautious what websites you place your email address on
· Use a bogus email for suspect sites
· Have more than one email address keeping your personal one private
· Only give out your email to trusted people
· If you do not know the sender? <DELETE>
· If in doubt? <DELETE>
The above will help you combat spam in the first place, but what happens if you already have an email address and it receives loads of spam everyday?
Mr Spam Patrol
The answer here is about spam filtering, by that I mean, sorting the mail so you only receive emails you want and not all that other junk that usually comes with it. This is best described as having a customs officer filtering what the postman can and cannot put in your mail box.
So how do we put this customs coppa to work? How do we get him on Spam Patrol? It's easier than you might think, so open your peepers nice and wide and let’s take a closer look at spam filtering.
So how do we put this customs coppa to work? How do we get him on Spam Patrol? It's easier than you might think, so open your peepers nice and wide and let’s take a closer look at spam filtering.
Spam Filtering
Look Closely
Spam filtering can be administered at both the server and user level, this means that your server, (let’s call it the post office) and your mail box has protection in place to prevent the delivery of junk mail or “spam”. Always look closely and scrutinise your mail. As a good rule of thumb, if there is nothing in the subject field or if you do not know the sender, DELETE IT. !!
To implement filtering via the server you will either need to contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or login and look it up on their website. In most cases you can turn it on yourself and even customize the filtering to suite your needs. Be aware that your ISP may not have it.
Once you have turned on filtering the ISP's incoming mail server will filter much of the junk mail for you, it’s the equilivant of having someone at the post office sort your mail removing any junk mail before it is sent to you. It is also like having the "no junk mail" sticker on your letter box, this helps remove most spam but not necessarily all. You will still need to make changes at your end.
Once you have turned on filtering the ISP's incoming mail server will filter much of the junk mail for you, it’s the equilivant of having someone at the post office sort your mail removing any junk mail before it is sent to you. It is also like having the "no junk mail" sticker on your letter box, this helps remove most spam but not necessarily all. You will still need to make changes at your end.
Many email clients such as Thunderbird, MSN, Incredimail, Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express etc, pretty much all have inbuilt spam filtering programs and options. Because it is almost impossible for me to elaborate on each one I will primarily focus on Outlook Express as this is very common and also default to Windows.
In Outlook Express spam filtering is accomplished two ways, the first is by “Blocking Senders”. This enables you to simply block spam mail sent by “serial offender senders”, it stops spam sent from specific email addresses. Basically you block the email address from which the spam was originally sent. The second way is by "Creating Message Rules" which I will describe in the next section.
Blocking senders is only a band-aid of sorts since most spam mail is often sent from numerous sources via thousands of different email accounts and open relay servers.
In fact any number of computers may form part of what is known as a “Zombie Network” at any one time, sometimes numbering in the thousands. These zombie computers send spam mail whilst connected to the net and more often than not the owners have absolutely no idea their computer is sending spam to other computers.
Hence the name “Zombie” because that’s how they work, like zombies. !
I will detail more about zombie networks and how they work later.
Blocking senders is only a band-aid of sorts since most spam mail is often sent from numerous sources via thousands of different email accounts and open relay servers.
In fact any number of computers may form part of what is known as a “Zombie Network” at any one time, sometimes numbering in the thousands. These zombie computers send spam mail whilst connected to the net and more often than not the owners have absolutely no idea their computer is sending spam to other computers.
Hence the name “Zombie” because that’s how they work, like zombies. !
I will detail more about zombie networks and how they work later.
How to Block Senders
So let’s see how we block a sender, no doubt you already know how to open Outlook Express that may be why you are reading this tutorial in the first place. For those that forgot or simply don't know, follow the steps below:
Open Outlook Express, double-click the icon.
Open Outlook Express, double-click the icon.
Now assuming you have opened your inbox and surprise surprise, there is something that looks a bit suspect and you believe it is spam. Follow the five steps below to block a sender:
1) Open your email inbox and select the message you wish to block.
1) Open your email inbox and select the message you wish to block.
2) At the menu bar at the top click message
3) In the drop down menu box click block sender
4) A new Window will appear prompting your confirmation to block this sender and delete all emails associated with it, click Yes.
5) Click OK.
You can unblock senders by clicking Tools, then scroll down to Message Rules, and then highlight and click the Block Senders List. From there you simply untick the block on the sender you wish to allow. Then click Remove and OK.
Creating Message Rules
Creating message rules is another form of spam filtering that is perhaps a little more effective than simply blocking senders. It provides extra flexibility and enables the user to target specific words contained in both the subject field and email content. The subject field is the part that titles the email and the content is what the email contains.
If you see words like “pharmacy or Viagra” for example, it might be a sure bet the email could be potential spam. If you create a message rule telling Outlook Express to delete any emails containing these words, you may not have to worry about it again. There are of course many other words and phrases associated with spam that will be fairly obvious. Items such as body enhancing pharmaceuticals, surgery, and very often "get rich quick" schemes are all suspects on the spam horizon.
You can create numerous rules that will counter-act spam based on specific conditions that you setup in the message rule. You can also name the rule based on its intended function, the pharmacy and viagra rule as described above will automatically delete any email that contains these two words.
This helps combat spam but you must also be mindful of the fact that any email with these words whether spam or not will be deleted, another point worth mention is that just because it has the words pharmacy or Viagra does not always mean it is spam.
If you see words like “pharmacy or Viagra” for example, it might be a sure bet the email could be potential spam. If you create a message rule telling Outlook Express to delete any emails containing these words, you may not have to worry about it again. There are of course many other words and phrases associated with spam that will be fairly obvious. Items such as body enhancing pharmaceuticals, surgery, and very often "get rich quick" schemes are all suspects on the spam horizon.
You can create numerous rules that will counter-act spam based on specific conditions that you setup in the message rule. You can also name the rule based on its intended function, the pharmacy and viagra rule as described above will automatically delete any email that contains these two words.
This helps combat spam but you must also be mindful of the fact that any email with these words whether spam or not will be deleted, another point worth mention is that just because it has the words pharmacy or Viagra does not always mean it is spam.
So now down to business, let’s see how its done by observing the following ten steps:
1) Select the email you wish to create a rule for.
1) Select the email you wish to create a rule for.
2) Click Message on the menu bar at the top
3) Click “Create Rule from Message”
You will now be presented with a new window prompting you to tick certain boxes, this is where you set up conditions for the rule. In the top section it prompts you to set up your conditions, always tick the first three boxes as a minimum. Where it prompts you to “Select Actions” for the rule, always tick the “Delete” box, this will automatically delete the email for you. The more boxes you tick and the more conditions you set, the stronger the filtering.
4) Tick the top three boxes
5) Tick the Delete box
In the “Rule Description” window at the bottom, click the underlined items.
6) Click underlined items
Now you will be presented with another window prompting you to enter specific words or phrases etc, that will filter spam based on this content.
7) Enter the words you want filtered then click Add
7) Enter the words you want filtered then click Add
In the same window click OK, this confirms to Outlook Express that you want any emails containing these words or items deleted.
8) Click OK
8) Click OK
Now at the very bottom of the first window you will see the name field where you can give your rule a name. Always name any rule so as to prevent conflicts when making new rules.
9) Give your Message Rule a name and click OK
9) Give your Message Rule a name and click OK
10) Now simply click OK again and you’re all done. !!
So there you have it, thats spam filtering using Outlook Express, there are more filtering options available using this process, ultimately the more conditions you set, the higher your filtering strength. You must remember, the higher this strength the tighter your security, but it does make it difficult to receive emails you want that contain the content you have filtered.
You can turn off and change the filtering to allow emails that may have been previously filtered, this is achieved by removing the rule. To remove a rule start by clicking, Tools, scroll down to Message Rules, highlight and click Mail. Highlight the rule you want to remove and click Remove, and Apply Now. Then click OK.
There are also other ways to filter spam and perhaps it is best to consult the help section of your email program, usually this is found at the top right on the menu bar of most programs. Another method to find out more about spam filtering for your particular email client is by researching on Google.
More on Spam
Spam cost corporations millions each year, the cost of combating it increases with the amount of spam occupying cyberspace. Perhaps one of the most effective ways to prevent it is by modifying people’s behavior and educating them to never click anything that is spam related. If that were the case then spam advertisers and web merchants would not make much money from there efforts, this may reduce it's popularity among spammers and hackers.
Spam can lead to other net nasties filling your inbox that may have damaging program code intended to wreak havoc on your computer. To find out more on this see: Internet Security
Many spam emails can and often do contain attachments with embedded viruses, that once clicked can install themselves and threaten your privacy and security. Among other things many of these little critters are written to either defraud you of money or steal your identity.
The golden rule here is to never click anything in a spam email, and if you do, there is a very good chance that, "if it is flashing, it wants your money". !!
Spam can lead to other net nasties filling your inbox that may have damaging program code intended to wreak havoc on your computer. To find out more on this see: Internet Security
Many spam emails can and often do contain attachments with embedded viruses, that once clicked can install themselves and threaten your privacy and security. Among other things many of these little critters are written to either defraud you of money or steal your identity.
The golden rule here is to never click anything in a spam email, and if you do, there is a very good chance that, "if it is flashing, it wants your money". !!
Spam can also place tracking cookies on your computer made to track and report your online surfing habits which are then reported to a third party or the spam author. This information is then used to direct advertising at you based on your surfing habits, a massive invasion of privacy indeed. !!
There are many phished websites on the net that are loaded with these kind of cookies, and you may find that after you have visited one of them, you suddenly start receiving loads of spam mail. Some of these sites will prompt you to give an email address to gain access to various downloads etc. Always use a fake a email address if you suspect you’re on a bogus or “phished” website”. This way they won’t have your real email address and you will not receive their electronic junk mail.
Some emails will arrive in your inbox that look quite authentic and are in fact spam, we call this “spamouflauge” and it is again an attempt to deceive you out of a few dollars. Many of these are scams, and unfortunately thousands of people have succumbed to the fraud associated with spamouflauge and scams. The Nigerian 419 scam was one such scam that originated from spam, this particular scam defrauded people of millions.
Some emails will arrive in your inbox that look quite authentic and are in fact spam, we call this “spamouflauge” and it is again an attempt to deceive you out of a few dollars. Many of these are scams, and unfortunately thousands of people have succumbed to the fraud associated with spamouflauge and scams. The Nigerian 419 scam was one such scam that originated from spam, this particular scam defrauded people of millions.
One of the scariest abilities spammers have is their way of controlling thousands of computers all at once. When their code is installed on our machines, our computers can become part of a “botnet” or zombie army. The term botnet referes to "robot-networks" that run and execute programs and code automatically. The computers responsible for this work like robots and can send out large amounts of spam with out any human intervention, they are simply programmed to do so.
These botnets or zombie armies are often large groups of computers that all work together to send massive amounts of spam mail to other computers. Even many IT experts and professionals may have computers that form part of a botnet or zombie army and may not know it.
Besides the junk mail aspect of spam, it is also designed to clog up and backlog networks in an attempt to overwhelm servers. This is what we call “buffer overflow” and can result in hackers gaining access to unauthorized areas.
Spammers gain access to your email address from hackers that use programs called “trawlers” that search the internet for email addresses from a variety of sources. Places like forums, newsgroups and other sometimes non-secure areas are open slather for spammers and their associates who compile email addresses. Once they have built massive lists of email addresses they then sell them to spammers and advertisers and thus the money goes around.
These botnets or zombie armies are often large groups of computers that all work together to send massive amounts of spam mail to other computers. Even many IT experts and professionals may have computers that form part of a botnet or zombie army and may not know it.
Besides the junk mail aspect of spam, it is also designed to clog up and backlog networks in an attempt to overwhelm servers. This is what we call “buffer overflow” and can result in hackers gaining access to unauthorized areas.
Spammers gain access to your email address from hackers that use programs called “trawlers” that search the internet for email addresses from a variety of sources. Places like forums, newsgroups and other sometimes non-secure areas are open slather for spammers and their associates who compile email addresses. Once they have built massive lists of email addresses they then sell them to spammers and advertisers and thus the money goes around.
As mentioned above spam requires our most vigilant attention and always delete any suspect email immediately. Do not reply to it as this verifies you have a legitimate email address to the spammers, who realize this and then continue to send you spam. This can happen when you click the “unsubscribe” link and again never click anything that reads; “to unsubscribe click here”.
Apart from spam filtering and being cautious it is vital that you keep your antivirus updated and regularly scan your computer for complete protection. Most antivirus programs have spam filtering built-in, but again it is not of much use if you do not regularly update it. It works by recognizing specific words or phrases known to be associated with spam and attempt to block these emails.
Spammers direct their advertising at us based on our behavior, if we change our behavior and online habits, they no longer have control over what we watch and see. By exercising vigilance and keeping both our computers and antivirus programs up to date and by not opening suspect emails, we dramatically reduce our risk of damage from spam.
To see an example of spam and a spoofed email, see: A Spam Example
To find out more about spam check these websites:
www.accc.gov.au
www.scamwatch.gov.au
Apart from spam filtering and being cautious it is vital that you keep your antivirus updated and regularly scan your computer for complete protection. Most antivirus programs have spam filtering built-in, but again it is not of much use if you do not regularly update it. It works by recognizing specific words or phrases known to be associated with spam and attempt to block these emails.
Spammers direct their advertising at us based on our behavior, if we change our behavior and online habits, they no longer have control over what we watch and see. By exercising vigilance and keeping both our computers and antivirus programs up to date and by not opening suspect emails, we dramatically reduce our risk of damage from spam.
To see an example of spam and a spoofed email, see: A Spam Example
To find out more about spam check these websites:
www.accc.gov.au
www.scamwatch.gov.au