Slashdot Mirror


Where Does Spam Come From? No, Really?

jnazario writes "The Center for Democracy and Technology has recently put together a really neat paper studying the methods by which spammers get your email addresses. The report posted otherwise unused email addresses in a variety of locations, using different techniques for visibility (ie HTML encoding vs plaintext) and then watched what accumulated after six months. They generated some interesting results into the methods by which spammers can track you (with publicly available websites containing your bare email address being the most popular method) and even some techniques to stop spam, such as HTML encoding your email address. A very interesting read."

34 of 306 comments (clear)

  1. Woah by mr.henry · · Score: 5, Funny

    This seems familiar.

    1. Re:Woah by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 4, Funny

      Slashdot needs a new story topic: Dupes! Suggestions for an icon, anyone?

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    2. Re:Woah by heytal · · Score: 2, Funny

      But even after giving three chances, the guys at cdt.org won't learn.. look, their site is slashdotted again!!

    3. Re:Woah by CustomDesigned · · Score: 2, Funny

      That's OK. I gave up Slashdot for Lent, so the timing of the repost was perfect. Now to HTML encode my email on all my web pages . . .

    4. Re:Woah by dtfarmer · · Score: 4, Funny

      After reading through that report for the third time, I think I have an interesting point to make - but I'll wait for slashdot to dupe the story a fourth time before I post it...

    5. Re:Woah by Steve+Christ · · Score: 5, Funny

      Dolly the sheep. :O)

    6. Re:Woah by jpetts · · Score: 2, Funny

      Suggestions for an icon, anyone?

      Only one icon?

      --
      Call me old fashioned, but I like a dump to be as memorable as it is devastating - Bender
    7. Re:Woah by codezion · · Score: 2, Funny

      And soon to come the famous statement -

      update Oh well, its a dupe. Whatever, it gives people something to complain about I guess ;)

    8. Re:Woah by NanoGator · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Slashdot needs a new story topic: Dupes! Suggestions for an icon, anyone? "

      Mini Me. It's a perfect clone, but only 1/8th as interesting.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    9. Re:Woah by Black+Copter+Control · · Score: 2, Funny
      "http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/12/14422 06&mode=thread&tid=111&tid=95" title="slashdot.org">seems familiar.

      Oh my god, Slashdot is Spamming us!

      (FYI: the original definition of spamming included (was) multiple (usenet) posting of the same article).

      --
      OS Software is like love: The best way to make it grow is to give it away.
  2. Everyone knows.... by Chris_Stankowitz · · Score: 5, Funny

    that Spam comes from a 'SPIG'. Cousin to the pig, but has to be mechanically seperated before being canned and served.

    1. Re:Everyone knows.... by beders · · Score: 3, Funny

      The best way to avoid spam is to get the page with your email address on /.ed

  3. Dupe by blackmonday · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is it April Fool's again? I'm waiting for the story on the evil bit now.

  4. Definition: SLAM by kvn299 · · Score: 5, Funny

    SLAM: An unsolicited duplicate Slashdot story.

  5. Tripe by s20451 · · Score: 4, Funny
    It's not just a dupe. Better yet, it's a tripe.

    tripe n.
    1. Stomach tissue of a ruminant and especially of the ox used as food
    2. Something poor, worthless, or offensive

    --
    Toronto-area transit rider? Rate your ride.
  6. Spam is mainly dupes by SpaghettiPattern · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yes....

    --

    I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
  7. All SPAM comes from.... by Znonymous+Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf (aka Baghdad Bob). He's always telling us that:

    "Americans are not in Baghdad"

    or

    "Loose wieght in just 2 weeks"

    or

    "Make money fast"

    or

    "Requested information"

    --

    Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.

    1. Re:All SPAM comes from.... by jpetts · · Score: 4, Funny

      Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf (aka Baghdad Bob). He's always telling us that:

      "Loose wieght in just 2 weeks"


      He was misquoted: he actually said "Lose Kuweight in two weeks...

      --
      Call me old fashioned, but I like a dump to be as memorable as it is devastating - Bender
  8. spam report by KingRamsis · · Score: 2, Funny

    the readers of /. are being spammed with reports about spam...
    /. editors come on guys make up and start talking to each other again.

  9. How to signal spam by ChrisNowinski · · Score: 2, Funny

    Spam should clearly have the Evil Bit set to on.

  10. Where do dupes come from? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Where do duplicate slashdot articles come from? No, really?

  11. Blasting Spammers with URLs by BigBlockMopar · · Score: 5, Funny

    I like to have fun with this one. Make sure that you take out any "serial numbers" which might be embedded in the link. Call as many dynamic scripts on the page as you can.

    #!/bin/bash

    COUNT=0
    while [ $COUNT -lt 2000 ]; do
    lynx -dump $1?YOU_FILL_MY_MAILBOX_WITH_UNSOLICITED_CRAP_AND_I _WILL_DO_THE_SAME_TO_YOUR_WEBLOGS
    let COUNT=COUNT+1
    echo $COUNT
    done

    Okay, it's ugly. And who knows if they actually check their weblogs? But it makes me feel better.

    Besides, they were warned on my webpage, which outlines all the policies with regard to sending e-mail to my domain.

    A really neat extension would be to have a script which parses the e-mail for links, de-fluffs them (to remove redirects through Yahoo and obfuscators like that) and automatically hits each and every one of the URLs given... but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

    --
    Fire and Meat. Yummy.
    1. Re:Blasting Spammers with URLs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      You could take whatever powdery substance you can find, get it encapsulated in a "pill", sell it as a "penile enhancement", and you would not be committing any crime!

      Cool! I have a tonne of saltpeter lying around. Time to get to work, I guess (hmm, wonder if I should add a warning for smokers?)

  12. A Mummy SPAM and a Daddy SPAM by turgid · · Score: 4, Funny

    You see, there's a mummy spam and a daddy spam. When they love each other very much they, well, sort of, get together, you know, and they make a new spam.

  13. Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahha by phunhippy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf (aka Baghdad Bob). just hired by slashdot

    "THIS STORY IS NOT A DUPE! IT IS NOT A TRIPE! IT IS ORIGINAL AND YOU WILL READ IT YOU FILTHY INFIDELS!!!

    I am still alive!!

  14. Millions of spam by Joe+the+Lesser · · Score: 4, Funny

    Spam comes in a can,
    It was put there by a man,
    In factory downtown.

    And if I had my little way,
    I'd get spammed every day!...

    --
    "I only speak the truth"
    Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
  15. Effect of Spam by rodney+dill · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just remember, SPAM doesn't kill people

    People who get spammed, kill people.

    --

    Use your head, can't you, use your head,
    You're on earth, there's no cure for that
    - S. Beckett
  16. Iraqi Information Minister on Double Posts by Torgo's+Pizza · · Score: 3, Funny
    "There never has been any double posting of articles on Slashdot!"

    TheInformationMinister.com Slashdot really needs to hire this guy. (Note: Opera seems to have a problem with the way the Flash on the site works, but Netscape or IE seem fine.) Worth seeing at least once.

  17. Short addresses by Mikey-San · · Score: 4, Funny

    * Short e-mail addresses are easy to guess, and may receive more spam.

    For further information, please contact Ari Schwartz at the Center for Democracy & Technology, 202-637-9800, ari@cdt.org.


    Did anyone else find that rather funny?

    --
    Mikey-San
    Karma: +Eleventy billion (mostly affected by watching Celebrity Jeopardy)
  18. Re:Advice for Taco... by user32.ExitWindowsEx · · Score: 2, Funny

    Dangit..."Increase your browser history size" - now that sounds like a piece of spam right there.

    I know I'll probably get modded to heck for this, but what the heck...

    --
    "Evil will always triumph because good is dumb." -- Dark Helmet
  19. Re:Mirror by 1u3hr · · Score: 5, Funny
    Other mirrors:
  20. Re:What gets me about all these dupes... by MyHair · · Score: 3, Funny

    This is a FOR-PROFIT site with readers who create the value,

    Yes, but I got them back: I don't read the ads and I only post uninformed CRAP! MUAHAHAHAHHAAAAAA!

  21. How is this Interesting? by jea6 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Good grief, moderator. It's not Interesting, it's Funny. RTFC.

    --

    sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
  22. Re:Mirror by Kaz+Riprock · · Score: 2, Funny

    Mirror of my response to the first dupe.

    BTW, CN even recognized that he duped the article last time! Geez, is Memento running this website or what?

    --
    Mordor...a magical, mythical land where women are more rare than dragons--but where every man would rather find a dragon