NYTimes: Tangled Up in Spam

ezekieldas writes "Congratulations to the SpamAssassin developers and community! There's a mention of SA in the NYTMag as "one of the best tools for network administrators..." in an extensive article entitled Tangled Up in Spam. The article is quite substantial and the author, James Gleick, is more technically educated than what we've come to expect from the big press. Central to the story is the complexity in dealing with spam effectively in both technical and legal terms and the confusion it brings upon the neophyte. The conclusion drawn may be oversimplified but nonetheless pragmatic: 1) forged headers should be illegal 2) a specific header entry should identify the email as unsolicited."

Comments

Register

[amentia]

No, I don't want to register!

I've gotten rid of 90% of spam

[trmj]

By simply filtering out all e-mails that have the word "Nigeria" in them.

Re:I've gotten rid of 90% of spam

[Anonymous Coward]

>URGENT ASSISTANCE - FROM USA
>
>IMMEDIATE ATTENTION NEEDED :
>HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL
>
>FROM: GEORGE WALKER BUSH
>202.456.1414 / 202.456.1111
>FAX: 202.456.2461
>
>DEAR SIR / MADAM,
>
>I AM GEORGE WALKER BUSH, SON OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
>OF
>AMERICA GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, AND CURRENTLY SERVING AS PRESIDENT OF
>THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS LETTER MIGHT SURPRISE YOU BECAUSE WE
>HAVE NOT MET NEITHER IN PERSON NOR BY CORRESPONDENCE. I CAME TO KNOW OF YOU
>IN MY SEARCH FOR A RELIABLE AND REPUTABLE PERSON TO HANDLE A VERY
>CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS TRANSACTION, WHICH INVOLVES THE TRANSFER OF A HUGE
>SUM
>OF MONEY TO AN ACCOUNT REQUIRING MAXIMUM CONFIDENCE.
>
>I AM WRITING YOU IN ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE PRIMARILY TO SEEK YOUR ASSISTANCE
>IN
>ACQUIRING OIL FUNDS THAT ARE PRESENTLY TRAPPED IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ. MY
>PARTNERS AND I SOLICIT YOUR ASSISTANCE IN COMPLETING A TRANSACTION BEGUN BY
>MY FATHER, WHO HAS LONG BEEN ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THE EXTRACTION OF
>PETROLEUM
>IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND BRAVELY SERVED HIS COUNTRY AS DIRECTOR
>OF THE UNITED STATES CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA).
>
>IN THE DECADE OF THE NINETEEN-EIGHTIES, MY FATHER, THEN VICE-PRESIDENT OF
>THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, SOUGHT TO WORK WITH THE GOOD OFFICES OF THE
>RESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ TO REGAIN LOST OIL REVENUE SOURCES IN THE
>NEIGHBORING ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN. THIS UNSUCCESSFUL VENTURE WAS SOON
>FOLLOWED BY A FALLING-OUT WITH HIS IRAQI PARTNER, WHO SOUGHT TO ACQUIRE
>ADDITIONAL OIL REVENUE SOURCES IN THE NEIGHBORING EMIRATE OF KUWAIT, A
>WHOLLY-OWNED U.S.-BRITISH SUBSIDIARY.
>
>MY FATHER RE-SECURED THE PETROLEUM ASSETS OF KUWAIT IN 1991 AT A COST OF
>SIXTY-ONE BILLION U.S. DOLLARS ($61,000,000,000). OUT OF THAT COST,
>THIRTY-SIX BILLION DOLLARS ($36,000,000,000) WERE SUPPLIED BY HIS PARTNERS
>IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA AND OTHER PERSIAN GULF MONARCHIES, AND
>SIXTEEN BILLION DOLLARS ($16,000,000,000) BY GERMAN AND JAPANESE PARTNERS.
>BUT MY FATHER'S FORMER IRAQI BUSINESS PARTNER REMAINED IN CONTROL OF THE
>REPUBLIC OF IRAQ AND ITS PETROLEUM
>RESERVES.
>
>MY FAMILY IS CALLING FOR YOUR URGENT ASSISTANCE IN FUNDING THE REMOVAL OF
>THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ AND ACQUIRING THE PETROLEUM ASSETS OF
>HIS COUNTRY, AS COMPENSATION FOR THE COSTS OF REMOVING HIM FROM POWER.
>UNFORTUNATELY, OUR PARTNERS FROM 1991 ARE NOT WILLING TO SHOULDER THE
>BURDEN
>OF THIS NEW VENTURE, WHICH IN ITS UPCOMING PHASE MAY COST THE SUM OF 100
>BILLION TO 200 BILLION DOLLARS ($100,000,000,000 - $200,000,000,000), BOTH
>IN THE INITIAL ACQUISITION AND IN LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT.
>
>WITHOUT THE FUNDS FROM OUR 1991 PARTNERS, WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO ACQUIRE
>THE OIL REVENUE TRAPPED WITHIN IRAQ. THAT IS WHY MY FAMILY AND OUR
>COLLEAGUES ARE URGENTLY SEEKING YOUR GRACIOUS ASSISTANCE. OUR
>DISTINGUISHED
>COLLEAGUES IN THIS BUSINESS TRANSACTION INCLUDE THE SITTING VICE-PRESIDENT
>OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, RICHARD CHENEY, WHO IS AN ORIGINAL PARTNER
>IN THE IRAQ VENTURE AND FORMER HEAD OF THE HALLIBURTON OIL COMPANY, AND
>CONDOLEEZA RICE, WHOSE PROFESSIONAL DEDICATION TO THE VENTURE WAS
>DEMONSTRATED IN THE NAMING OF A CHEVRON OIL TANKER AFTER HER.
>
>I WOULD BESEECH YOU TO TRANSFER A SUM EQUALING TEN TO TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT
>(10-25 %) OF YOUR YEARLY INCOME TO OUR ACCOUNT TO AID IN THIS IMPORTANT
>VENTURE. THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL
>FUNCTION AS OUR TRUSTED INTERMEDIARY. I PROPOSE THAT YOU MAKE THIS
>TRANSFER
>BEFORE THE FIFTEENTH (15TH) OF THE MONTH OF APRIL.
>
>I KNOW THAT A TRANSACTION OF THIS MAGNITUDE WOULD MAKE ANYONE APPREHENSIVE
>AND WORRIED. BUT I AM ASSURING YOU THAT ALL WILL BE WELL AT THE END OF THE
>DAY. A BOLD STEP TAKEN SHALL NOT BE REGRETTED, I ASSURE YOU. PLEASE DO BE
>INFORMED THAT THIS BUSINESS TRANSACTION IS 100% LEGAL. IF YOU DO NOT WISH
>TO CO-OPERATE IN THIS TRANSACTION, PLEASE CONTACT OUR INTERMEDIARY
>REPRESENTATIVES TO FURTHER DISCUSS THE MATTER.
>
>I PRAY THAT YOU UNDERSTAND OUR PLIGHT. MY FAMILY AND OUR COLLEAGUES WILL
>BE
>FOREVER GRATEFUL. PLEASE REPLY IN STRICT CONFIDENCE TO THE CONTACT NUMBERS
>BELOW.
>
>SINCERELY WITH WARM REGARDS,
>
>GEORGE WALKER BUSH

Talking of spam...

[SnAzBaZ]

So how much spam am I likely to get if I give in and register with NYTimes so I can read the article?

Spammage

[Big Mark]

Spam Spam Spam Spam
Where does it come from, Uncle Sam?
"Monty Python, don't you know,
When the madness was in full flow"

But what when the accursed stuff
Leads one to declare, "I've had enough!"?
"My son, spam's easy to fail,
When you stop using hotmail!"

-Mark

Re:Kudos to SA.

[Anonymous Coward]

As soon as I put my email address on my web page I started getting spams from those pesky nigerian millionares.

Re:Kudos to SA.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, they'll get through ...even if it's only another spammer.

Re:Kudos to SA.

[bubblegoose]

I felt the same way you did until about 6 months ago. I went two years without Spam. Then a coworker thought he would fill out one of those forms on a web page to have the site send me a link to the page. You know the "send link to a friend" that shows up on some pages. Some joke site I think.

From that point on the crap has hitting my mailbox, about 10 per day.

I still haven't figured out how to thank him for that damn link that started it all.

Re:MIT's Post Servers...

[Alan]

IIRC I once got one in the 40s or 50s, some asian teen sex toner catridge html penis enlarging money saving viagra enabled weight lose and interest rate mail of some sort I guess....

What was the e-mail?

[shellac]

So what was the e-mail with a score of 27?

"Hello, I am a Nigerian prince who is selling XXX-brand diet pills that also have the side effect of enlarging your penis. Also if you forward this email to five other people and tell them to each send you a dollar you can make money fast."

*ducks*

Re:Kudos to SA.

[Doom Ihl' Varia]

"The actual real pop3 address practically nobody gets, except my parents, and a few technie friends. All of these people know better than to abuse an e-mail address."

Are your parents willing to adopt or would you consider a trade?

Re:Kudos to SA.

[Analysis Paralysis]

Pop over to the Scientology website and do one of their "on-line personality tests" in your friends name...for his profession put down "Venture Capitalist" or something else that suggests loadsamoney.

Did this for Alan Ralsky - wonder how much snail-mail spam he's received from them so far?

Re:Illegal?

[Gleef]

meringuoid wrote:

Because the vast majority of spam is sent by Americans, advertising products sold by other Americans and hoping to sell them to still more Americans.

Actually, I'm an American and at least one third of the spam I get is sent from Korea, advertising in Korean, presumably for Korean products. This spam is completely unreadable by me (I have friends who can read Chinese and Japanese, but none who read Korean).

I don't see Korea caring what laws the US passes regarding forged headers. Might help with the rest of my spam tho.

Find out who is buying the garbage and shoot them.

[splorp!]

OK, don't shoot them, but maybe conduct a poll. Find out why they are stupid enough to purchase anything offered through an unsolicited commercial e-mail. Find out if they actually believe that anything purchased through an e-mail will increase their penis/breast size, allow them to lose a ridiculous amount of weight, make an impossible amount of money or get the best mortgage rate around.

And then shoot them. A lot.