What is an anti-spam filter?

An anti-spam filter is a program designed to detect and block unsolicited bulk email. It works by scanning any incoming email for words, phrases, html code and other spammer tactics to determine whether an email is spam or not. It does this based on probability formulas that calculate the likelihood that an email that has certain words is spam.

It will also create black lists and white lists. The blacklist will store email from unknown ISP and email addresses or ISP addresses; the whitelist will hold email that is sent from pre-approved sources. The filter software will also keep these lists up to date. Whenever the filter detects that an incoming email is spam, its address is added to the blacklist. Whenever the sender or recipient confirms an email as trusted and legitimate, it will be added to the white list. Most of the “sporm” (spam pornography) will be filtered out as well as any email that it detects has adult content.

What Should You Look for in Anti-spam Filter Software?

Here are other important features you should take into consideration:

- Make sure the anti-spam filter software is compatible with your particular email service. Do not take it for granted that it will work with what you have.

- It is important that the software program is easy for you to use and navigate. Anti-spam software is worthless if you can’t figure out how to use it or if it has features you do not understand.

- The features and tools the software offers should enable you to customize the program to suit your own needs. It should be flexible in letting you set your own rules regarding which email to permit into your inbox and what you want to filter out or block.

- Ideally, it should enable you to set up whitelist, which will indicate particular email and ISP addresses that should always be delivered to the inbox. This will ensure that legitimate email from trusted sources will never be filtered out or accidentally deleted.

- The software should install with ease, with zero or minimal errors encountered during set up. Some anti-spam software requires registration, additional downloads or other steps to be taken before it can be used.

- The software you choose should be stable in its release and workings. One way to check this is to look at the release package and view what the programmers or company states is the last stable release. It is probably not in your interests to buy software that is still in the beta phase, particularly if you are not familiar with the program.

Spam is irritating at best, and maliciously destructive at worst. Buying the right anti-spam software will go a long way toward protecting you from the spammers of the world.

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In response to the growing threat from spam, new legislation was enacted in 2003. it was called: Controlling the Assault of Non Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM act). This act created some requirements for all companies who are sending bulk commercial email, as well as those companies whose products are offered for sale in the spam emails. It also instituted penalties for violators, as well as giving the client or consumer the right and the means to request that the emailers cease the spam efforts.

CAN-SPAM was enacted in January, 2004. The act covers any email which have as its purpose advertising or promotional efforts for any service or product, including those whose contents reside solely on a web site.

The legislation also covers “transactional or relationship messages,” meaning those emails which help a web site to deal with any transaction, even those which are agreed on, or make updates to any customer whether new or exisiting. None of these may contain false or spoofed routing information.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the United States agency for consumer protection, was granted the authority to enforce the act and the DOJ, or Department of Justice is additionally charged with the enforcement of the CAN SPAM act. It also provides that Internet Service Providers who are hurt by the spam may in fact sue the violators of the legislation to recoup losses to their own business.

Other Major Provisions of the Law

-It bans any attempt to falsify the information in the header or subject line.

These must correctly identify what the message is about, and accurately display routing information as well as “To” and “from” information. The email must accurately indicate the identity of the sender and recipient. It must accurately portray the domain from which the email originates as well as the senders real email address.

- It bans misleading subject lines

The subject line must not mislead the recipient to open the email under false pretenses. It should clearly indicate the actual subject matter of the email.

- Emails sent in this fashion must offer the recipient a legitimate means to get out of receiving the commercial email in the future. Any such requests to opt-out must be honored by the spamming company, and the email address deleted from its sending list. The commercial emailer will have 10 days to after the request to cease sending messages to that address

- Commercial bulk email should easily be identified as an advertisement or solicitation. It must also include the sender’s actual physical postal address

- The recipient must be fore-warned of any sexually explicit information the email may contain. This warning must be displayed in the email’s subject line.

Each and every violation of this law or the aspects of the law subjects the sender to strict fines that can go as high as $10,000 per incident and, for certain violations, the commercial emailer will face possible jail time.

Another legal initiative aimed at fighting spam is the “Digital PhishNet” (DPN), which was established in 2004. It is a collaborative effort between the Internet industry and criminal law enforcement. Its purpose is to identify and to prosecute spammers who break the law through phishing. Online auction sites, financial institutions, ISPs and other groups within the industry are all involved in this imitative. Important data and information is forwarded in real time to law enforcement.

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The spam blocker differs from a spam filter in that its function is specifically to block most of the incoming spam. The spam filter works by organizing email that it identifies as spam into folders, and leaves it to you to take further action on. The spam blocker, on the other hand, is specifically programmed to prevent spam from getting through. With a spam blocker, you do not have to deal with the spam it detects and blocks.

So How Does a Spam Blocker Work?

The spam blocker will log into your mail server email account every 10 minutes, inspecting it for spam email. It immediately destroys any viruses, and gets rid of any obvious spam such as email that contains adult or pornographic material. Undesirable email is flagged and then redirected to a folder specifically for spam. You will have an opportunity to sort through this spam folder to verify that no legitimate email is mistakenly diverted there. Any email that it is on your white-list or which it determines as legit will be left on the server to be downloaded as normal.

If an email is from an unknown source and the spam blocker cannot clearly categorize it as either legitimate or spam, it is quarantined in a specific folder until you either move it or delete it. The quarantined spam is usually held in this folder for up to 30 days, or until you take action on it. The spam blocker keeps track of the particular action you take on each quarantined email e.g. if you delete the email. It will “remember” this action and use it to create a new filtering rule that it will apply to future incoming email.

What are the Benefits of a Spam Blocker?

- A spam blocker frees up storage space. Most mailboxes have a very limited capacity to store email. Spam takes up space, and a spam blocker generally prevents large files from making it into your main folder.

- By blocking spam rather than just filtering it, the spam blocker helps minimize the amount of time you have to personally sort through your spam email.

- Because this anti-spam software deletes spam, it drastically lowers the risk of a computer virus infecting your system.

- Many spam blockers are available online for immediate download, are usually very easy to install and generally do not require further configuration..

Many email services offer spam blocker software. If, however, you choose to buy your own, make sure you get one that is compatible with your service. Also take into account the level of blockage it offers as well as flexibility it offers in letting you customize the settings to your own preferences.

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Each type of spam will violate the law in one way or another and each can be prosecuted if it can be proven.

Saving and sending the entire email header is an important step in reporting spam. The header of every email you receive will contain information on the full chain of computers through which the email passed in order to get to you. Generally, most email will pass through at least four computers: The spammer’s computer, the spammer’s ISP, your ISP and finally your computer. This is the most reliable way for an anti-spam service to track down the spammer’s ISP because the spammer will camouflage the “from” address.

As the email passes through each computer, information is added to the header indicating who the mail came from, as well as where they are sending it. While this header information will seem complicated, you just need to make note of the originating ISP, which will be easy to recognize. For example, if you receive your mail through AOL and you note “yahoo” in the string of information, then you will know to report the spam to yahoo.

To read the information in the email header, just right click on the email, choose properties and then either “options” or “header” depending on your email program. Then cut and paste the header path in its entirety, into the body of the email. Finally, forward the spam email first, to the spammer’s ISP, and then next to spam reporting agencies

You should also forward the spam to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). You can do this at the website: uce@ftc.gov. While the FTC will not take action on individual incidents, they will add the spam to a database reffered to as UCE (unsolicited commercial email)

A common spam scam you may come across is called a “419 Scam”, or the Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud. These spam emails generally relates a tale of woe – a death in the family and a huge inheritance that the sender needs your (financial) help to claim. As improbable as it sounds, many people have fallen for this scam and millions of dollars have been defrauded from them. Fax a copy of this spam along with the header information to the United States Secret Service.

Here is a list of the agencies you may report spam to, along with the type of email they can handle or will deal with.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/ – This site offers you information about the law enforcement actions that have been taken against deceptive mailers and companies and those who do not honor opt-out requests from email recipients..

www.spamabuse.org

This is a third party reporting agency.

www.spamcop.net

Another third party agency which will report spam on your behalf to the relevant anti-spam agency.

For stock fraud, email the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at enforcement@sec.gov. They are prosecuting however they are only able to deal with fraud in email that has to do with stocks and bonds.

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Image Spam

The prevalence of this form of spam increased in 2006, primarily as a means for advertising penny stocks. It involved the use of a picture or graphic embedded in the body of the junk email. The junk email’s message is displayed as an image.

Because most anti-spam filters are text-based, image spam was relatively successful. This led to its use in advertising everything from sexual enhancement to fake pharmaceuticals.

One serious effect of image spam has had is to further clog up Internet bandwidth, and drive up costs to businesses. This is because the average size of each junk email almost doubled. In fact, this increased size and the sheer volume of image spam forced many businesses to block all emails that contained embedded or attached images.

By early 2007, image spam reached an all-time high, accounting for almost two-thirds of all junk email. However, as spam filter technology has adapted to detect image spam, its use has since declined to less than 15% of all junk email. Instead, spammers are turning to PDF spam

PDF Spam

Spammers are increasingly using PDF files to bear their spam messages. The practice begun in mid-2007, primarily as a scam to fool recipients into investing their money in the stock of a particular company.

With this type of spam, the junk email is sent out with a PDF file attachment, which most anti-spam filters cannot or do not read. These attachments range from rudimentary to professional-looking documents. The text in the body of the email is usually nonsensical gobbledygook that the spam-filter does not recognize as junk mail.

For the spammer, the use of PDF files is advantageous because PDF files are so commonly used in the business world. In fact, several companies allow or even require their business email systems to deliver these documents to the recipient. This makes it very likely that this PDF spam will reach the user’s inbox.

The use of junk mail with PDF attachments takes up even more Internet bandwidth. This is because PDF files are generally much larger than the embedded pictures and graphics used in image spam. Image spam is typically in GIF format; PDF files are upto 3 times the size of these files.

The upside to the use of image and PDF spam is that so far, there is no hard evidence that either one can be used to embed malicious software on the recipient’s computer. The only harm is done to those who do what the message says. Spammers have also begun to experiment with attachments in different file types such as excel and zip files.

The advent and decline of the different types of spam attest to the cat-and-mouse game that goes on between the spammers and the security experts. As anti-spam technology catches up to their techniques, they continue to innovate and change tactics to deliver their spam messages.

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What is Spam?

Spam, also called junk email, is generally defined in the Internet industry as unsolicited commercial email (UCE). It is email that is sent out in bulk to a huge number of recipients who did not request it. The contents of spam range from benign advertising to malicious programs that can literally hijack your computer system do grave damage.

The most common commercial spam advertises pyramid schemes, pornographic web sites, mortgage loans, chain letters, credit repair, fraudulent pharmaceuticals and illegally pirated software. The more dangerous spam will often contain viruses that can infect your computer, Trojan horses that can hijack your email program and use it to send out spam to your friends and family, and phishing scams that attempt to get your personal and financial information.

Who Spams?

“Spammer” is the term used to refer to those responsible for spam. In the Spam world, there are two types of spammers. There are the honest spammers who comply with the anti-spam laws, and have the consent of the spam recipients. These willing recipients usually join the honest spammer’s “opt-in” mailing list by signing up at a website, for example to enter a lottery, or to be notified of future promotions.

Then there are the dishonest spammers, who will get your email addresses by any means possible. They use their spam for criminal or malicious purposes and have zero regard for the law.

Spammers range from the lone, home-based individual to multi-million dollar companies with several employees. Most of the spam companies are increasingly relocating to offshore locations to evade US laws and law enforcement.

Where do the Spammers Get your Email Address From?

Spammers get their victim’s email addresses from just about anywhere you can imagine. Primarily, they use Newsgroup harvesters and Spambots, which are automated programs designed to “harvest” (extract) email addresses from online sites. Newsgroup harvesters target newsgroup postings and other unprotected web-based forums, which tend to have low security. Spambots troll the Internet, scanning websites and “harvesting” (extracting) email addresses. It typically searches for the “@” sign that denotes an email address.

The average spambot can harvest over 30,000 email addresses in just one hour. And this goes on 24/7, year and year out.

There are also companies that sell CDs that are packed with valid email addresses. These can sell for as little as $25, and they are a goldmine for any spammer.

Why do Spammers Spam?

In a word? Money. Spammers literally make millions from their illicit trade. Studies show that for every million junk emails sent out, a spammer will average about 100 sales. Add to this the fact that they make $50-$100 in commission for each sale, and you can see how the numbers add up to incomes in excess of $100,000 a year! What’s more, spamming can cost next to nothing.

But why does spamming continue despite its cost in time, effort and money? Because there are people out there who respond to spam. Even with a minimal response rate of one sale from every 10,000 emails, it can be highly profitable. If no one responded to spam, the spammer’s cash cow would starve and the practice would end. It is these few who keep the spammers in business. They make the cost of spamming worthwhile.

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Much like human viruses, computer viruses run the gamut from the benign to the fatally destructive to the computers they infect. And just as with human viruses, prevention is better than cure. Prevention begins by stopping them in their tracks at the portals of contact. This is where a firewall can come in handy.

An anti-spam firewall application will, to an extent, help in keeping viruses at bay. There is, however, no firewall that is 100% hacker proof – there are too many ways in which viruses can be embedded in a software download or regular data, for a firewall to detect and catch them all. However there are some relatively effective firewall programs available on the market, and some of them are actually free for your personal use.

At the bare minimum a home personal computer that is connected to a cable modem or a full time connection needs to have and run a personal firewall software program, as well as anti-spyware and some type of anti-viral program.

The ideal firewall will hide the ports that a hacker might use to gain access to your PC and protect your home PC from attacks, as well as track those attempted entries and prohibit unauthorized access or output from your computer. Two-way firewalls are the best as they block the threats that are incoming OR outgoing, to prevent things such s virus, Trojans or malware from being installed without you knowing it.

Windows XP, as well as the new Vista have a personal firewall built into the operating system that is by default turned on. Because it monitors and offers popup warnings many people turn it off, and leave themselves remarkably vulnerable to attack. The Windows firewall default of “on” should be maintained until and unless you find another software or hardware firewall to protect your system.

Some good freeware anti-viral and firewall software programs are available, such as Zone Alarm and Zone Alarm Pro. AVG also comes in a free as well as a pro version.Neither of these programs comes with adware attached and they are very good solutions to begin to address your internet security.

You will need good anti-virus programs to go after any viruses that may inevitably bypass your firewall. It should be programmed to either quarantine or, preferably, destroy them. Last but certainly not least, it is essential to always keep your anti-viral and firewall programs up to date with the newest patches and security updates. Most viruses target your C: drive, so scan it daily. And never, ever open any unsolicited emails or the attachments that come with them.

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Much of the confusion regarding spam comes from a lack of understanding the everyday email user may have regarding the ways and motivations of the spammers.

Whether a given email is spam or not spam can be said to be in the eye of the beholder. There are legitimate email marketers out there, who comply with all applicable laws when they do their bulk emailing. They will, for example, only send their advertising to recipients who have subscribed to their emailing list. In fact, in formal studies have shown that currently, only about half of all spam is deceptive or fraudulent; roughly half of all spam contains genuine marketing messages. Thanks to spammers, all email marketing is tainted with a bad name.

The nature of spam has less to do with its commercial content than with the fact that it is unsolicited and sent out in bulk. There are two categories of spam: unsolicited bulk email and unsolicited commercial email.

Unsolicited bulk email is mass-mailed to recipients who have not given their consent to receive it. This category of spam encompasses jokes, chain letters, virus alerts, etc. unsolicited commercial email targets your wallet. This subset of spam includes get-rich- quick and pyramid schemes, stock offerings for pennystocks, spamming software and fake pharmaceuticals.

While most spam is generally mailed out to advertise a product or service, some is malicious in content and intent. It runs the gamut from jokes and ads, to stock-market scams and virus-laden emails. Spammers, those obnoxious folks who send you spam, will target you because:

- They want you to buy something

- They defraud you out of your hard-earned money

- They want to confirm that your email address is a real live one (and then add you to a spam mailing list)

- They just want to shock and offend

The huge volume of spam has created big problems. While it is free for the spammer to send out his millions of spam emails, the cost of the bandwidth that this junk mail takes up borne by the internet service provider (ISP). The ISP, not one to bear this expensive burden on its own, will pass on some of the cost to you in the form of price increases.

You also pay the price for spam in the time wasted sorting through and deleting junk mail, the loss in productivity and the pure aggravation of having to deal with it. It also raises security issues because it may contain viruses that are harmful to your computer.

How do you spot spam when it lands in your inbox?

Here are a few things you can look for that are a dead give-away

- Email from someone you do not know

- Nonsensical subject lines

- Outlandish promises of money, exotic cruises and lonely housewives

- Adult or pornographic content

- Unsubscribe links in unsolicited email

- Very brief emails – a line or two

You should be aware that spammers often send you email that is designed to look like it came from an acquaintance of yours, a reputable company or a reply to an email from you.

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The most common of these programs are: Viruses, Trojan Horses, Malware and Adware. Knowing what they are and how they work will help you better protect yourself from malicious spam.

Viruses

A is a computer program that is specifically created to replicate itself and to infect a computer system without permission or even knowledge of the user. Viruses come in several varieties including:

The Boot Sector Virus

This virus will infect the root-most part of your computer hard drive, called the boot sector. This is what is used to start up your computer.

This type virus can prevent your computer from starting and may even force a hard drive format, causing you to lose all of the information on your computer in one fell swoop.

The Program Virus

This is an executable file. It becomes active when the program it has infected is run. When it is activated, it will infect other programs on your hard drive, disabling them.

The Macro Virus

The third type of virus specifically targets documents such as Microsoft word. It is activated when the infected document it has infected is run. One action it may perform, for example, is to erase dates in your documents as well as other areas of the computer.

Malware

The term “malware” is short for malicious software. It is a type of program that propagates on your hard drive and can create untold problems when it does so. Malware may install a program that you did not want, or ask for. When it does so, it will use up many of your computer’s system resources, effectively slowing it to a near standstill.

Trojan Horse

Much like its Greek namesake, the Trojan horse program is a seemingly harmless and innocuous application or file, but it contains harmful, malicious code and, when installed, can wreak havoc on your computer system. This program often runs undetected, giving the hacker access to your computer system and, for example, your personal information such as saved passwords and bank account numbers. The hacker is also able to display messages on your computer screen.

Adware

While not necessarily malware, but adware can be used for malicious purposes. Adware goes above and beyond what is reasonable advertising. It is adware, in fact what has given a bad name to some otherwise incredible free software that may actually be very beneficial to you.

It generates popups or other annoying advertising that can in fact freeze or lock your computer. In many cases, the adware is difficult if not impossible for the regular user to remove, disable or even detect.

In addition to displaying ads for the original advertiser, adware may log your whereabouts on the internet and send user information back to the spammy ad company about your computer use without asking for your permission to do so.

Spam is not always the most harmful thing you will find in your inbox; it is the attachments that come with spam that can really devastate your computer system. It is crucial that you do not open attachments in unsolicited email.

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Typically, a phishing attack will be executed in combination with a massive spam mailing. Phishing spam is sent out to millions of recipients, often with a subject line that is exciting or upsetting. It is calculated to trigger an immediate reaction from the recipient, and get them to respond without further thought.

The phishing email will often have phrases such as:

-Dear Valued Customer.

-Click the link below to access to your account.

-If you don’t respond within 24 hours, your account shall be closed.

The phishing spam is typically a fraudulent but very official-looking e-mail. It is cleverly designed to replicate the website and email messages of a business you know and trust such as your bank or mortgage company. The email will even sport official logos and graphics of the legitimate company.

It will instruct you to click on a link in the email to go to the company’s website, where you can “update” your personal information. The link will usually be “masked,” which means that when you click on it, it will take you to a phony web address. Clicking on the link will take you to a website that appears to be that of the real financial institution’s website. It is, however, just a copycat spoof, set up to give the spammer access to your personal and financial data. You may give your information thinking you are at the real website. Instead, any information you enter here will go directly to the identity thieves.

What are the Consequences?

If you fall prey to the scam and unwittingly divulge private information, you will be left vulnerable to identity theft, credit card fraud and other financial mishaps.

These identity thieves will either sell the information to fellow criminals, or use it for their own financial gain. This vital personal data will be used, for example, to set up fraudulent online bill pay, with payments made out to the phisher. They may use it to access funds from your bank accounts and credit cards and transfer them to their own checking accounts. They may even use a copy of your bank or credit card along with the phished PIN to withdraw cash from your accounts at any ATM.

Phishing is a numbers game for these criminal spammers. They will send out their phishing email to millions of recipients. They count on just a few falling for the scam and volunteering their information: if a mere 1% of recipients volunteer their personal information, the phishing expedition will be a hughly lucrative. It is these few who make their scam worthwhile.

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