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If possible, set your browser to ask for your permission for any web page scripts.
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 Spam today: more information
September 29, 2004 - Part III
Spam protection
So far we have only dealt with the problem of SPAM itself, not with how to fight it. In this section we provide a rundown on SPAM-combating techniques.
A great deal of attention to the neutralization of SPAM was given in my former article, and I recommend that you follow steps described in it. In addition to email filtering placed at the level of email clients (Outlook, the Bat, Eudora, and others), I would recommend that you use the email filtering capabilities offered by email service providers themselves. These providers have purchased SPAM-filtering technologies from well-known third-party vendors and are actively deploying it at the level of their email gateway servers. These automated filtering technologies allow the blocking of junk correspondence based on the following three major parameters:
Content Filtering. The filter automatically scans incoming messages for the presence of restricted content, and if it discovers such content, it blocks the entire message so it doesn't get through
Community Response. The filter automatically collects the feedback on previous messages and based on that history assesses which mail should be considered legitimate. If it evaluates an email is similar to what has been considered "SPAM" in the past, it marks the message as SPAM, and deletes it. Here, the judgment is based on the history of feedback by its users; so fresh scams cannot be discovered using this method.
Message Identification and Reputation. In this method, the legitimacy of an email is verified against the reputation of the sender. If the filter recognizes that the originator of the email is trustworthy and that all past email from this source was SPAM free, it would let it through; otherwise it would not.
Aside from automated filtering tools advertised by major email providers, these companies also carry an option for their users to manually specify mail filtering based on their own preferences. Manually constructed SPAM blocking configurations may include the use of:
~Blacklists and whitelists.
~Self-configured content filtering.
Generally, in order to enable available filtering options, all users need to log on to their email account using their web browser, go to the setup page, and from there select the filtering (or blocking) properties desired. Be patient, smart, and careful. If, for example, you enable a whitelist (a list of email address that should always be forwarded to your Inbox) and you forget to include the allowed email contacts, you would stop receiving email altogether! This happens when a whitelist is enabled but is empty; only those people included in the whitelist would get through while all others would be deleted.
Making filters automatically throw out unneeded correspondence means that your unsolicited emails get removed from your Inbox instantly after they are placed into it. This spares you the need to download messages to your Inbox, and drastically saves you the time otherwise wasted in sifting through an avalanche of SPAM. The performance of filtering instruments can be assessed based on two outputs: filter effectiveness rate (percentage of SPAM messages caught by the filter), and the rate of false positives (the percentage of nonjunk messages mistaken as SPAM). Email providers and software developers have made tremendous efforts to curb SPAM, but so far, have not won the battle. In the example below, you can clearly see how filters can be fooled:
The content filtering software would perceive this email as consisting of digits and would simply not detect the presence of the obvious (to humans) phrase "free sex". In this example, the filter is fooled into regarding this message as legitimate and lets it through. In another instance, as illustrated below, the content is obscured to the filter yet remains readable by the user:
Again, this definitely commercial SPAM would easily pass through the automated filters.
Filtering incoming mail at the level of the email service provider, along with setting up traps by taking advantage of protective tools built into email clients is necessary, but sometimes not sufficient. In this case, you may try to install special antispam software. This type of software will be the topic of my next article, in which I will review one of the best-known antispam programs.
The first step in stopping SPAM from clogging your Inbox is to recognize it. To extinguish it, you need to distinguish it. Tell your friends to NOT BUY ANYTHING IN SPAM, because SPAM, like any business venture, will exist only as long as spammers continue to make money from it. If SPAM's effectiveness drops to zero, it would instantly cease to exist. When it comes to individual users, the way to negate SPAM is to use filtering, follow wise email policies, and use the latest security software available.
Back to:
Part II
Part I
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