Spam Speech

Introduction

Let’s start by defining spam; irrelevant or inappropriate messages sent on the Internet to a large number of recipients. Microsoft defines spam as an unwanted email trying to get information or sell you something [1]. This could be a fake email from your bank saying you need to authorize yourself, or even just a flyer trying to sell you anything from male enhancement to clothing. Next up let’s explain how to prevent spam mail. According to Vitaly Friedman the single biggest and easiest thing is to not say your email anywhere online [2]. He suggests that you have 2 email accounts one for personal or business contacts that is used only for personal emails to people you know and trust and the other is the one you put online to register

So you’re probably wondering why spam is so bad if it’s just annoying emails of something trying to sell you something well there’s one more thing to worry about, viruses. Some spam is really easy to tell if its fake but others aren’t so easy [3]. Some spam is made to a “T” to look exactly like a big company and when you open them you could get a virus. These viruses could be anything from malware to hard drive corrupting computer killers. Finally let’s talk about how to remove spam. If you are getting spam unfortunately there is no way to stop spam once you are getting it. However there are ways to make sure you don’t see it. First let’s talk how about deleting, if you are getting spam there is nothing stopping you from just deleting the message [4]. Secondly there are ways to make sure you don’t see it. According to Adam Dachis just about every email server has a junk mail folder to separate spam. The server analyses the address and decides if its spam and if it is it puts the email in the folder so if you choose you can view it

As soon as new methods are introduced spammers are finding ways around them. These are how the most effective softwares work. The first method is called blacklisting. Blacklisting works by identifying the IP address of the sender’s computer, then blocks communication with this IP. The second method is filtering. Bayesian filtering is the most popular way of filtering. It works by scanning the mail you read and the mail you don’t. It is then able to learn over time what mail you want and what mail you don’t. The third method is called profiling. This analyses the message looking for telltale signs of spam such as the template, keywords, invalid message IDs, and bugs. A score is then assigned to the message. If the score passes a certain threshold the message is discarded. The last method is simply called labeling. In most states, senders are required to mark their messages as either spam or legitimate mail. This allows the user to choose whether or not they wish to see