Everyone knows how to send and recieve emails but only a few understand the concept behind the process. Emails are normally not send directly from your machine to the recipient. Mailservers that are setup by your ISP for instance process incoming emails and send them on their way. This information is stored in the headers of the email. Understanding email headers helps you identify spam directed at you.
Introduction Series Part 1: Spam
Spam is a big issue these days and people are always on the look out for ways to stop it. There is little that we as internet users can do about spam because there is always going to be a bunch of people that believe that spam is a good way to get people to buy things from them. There is little to this theory because so many people are so aware of spam that there is little in the way of sales from this type of email that it is going way down hill and very fast at that. There is not a matter of people actually stopping anything from going on even though there is a big field of research that is trying to help with the problem of spam and how to stop it from reaching a person.
Hiding Email Addresses
It´s a well know fact that some spammers use automated scripts that scan websites for email addresses and include them in their list of email addresses that will be spammed. Sarven Capadisli compiled a huge list of mechanisms to hide the email address to counter those robots. Most can only be used if you have certain rights on the website for example number seven uses javascript to hide the email address and this is normally not active for site users.
Phishing Explained
Phishing, which is a construct of the words Password and Fishing, becomes more and more common on the internet. Many people recieve daily mails from sites like ebay and paypal but also from financial sites like citibank that look authentic and direct you to a website that looks like a copy of the original site. They “phish” your login data or credit card information from that fake website.
Email Spammers have to pay
At least in England. According to the english newspaper The Herald a man named Nigel Roberts sued the company Media Logistics (UK) Ltd which sent him unwanted emails.
He was able to take actions under the Directive on Privacy and Telecommunications, a European Union law allowing spam victims to claim damage.
How do spammers spam?
Richi posted a nice introduction on how spammers actually send the millions of spam mails every day. He begins by describing two ways of sending spam mails: traditional and viral.
How to fight spam – the final guide
This short guide has the intention to provide even new users with an easy way to enjoy the internet. A big problem that stands between the enjoyment is mail spam or simply spam.
