Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Two Spam Filters 10 Times As Accurate As Humans

Posted by timothy on from the dev/null-is-getting-fatter dept.

Nuclear Elephant writes "The authors of two spam filters, CRM114 and DSPAM, announced recently that their filters have achieved accuracy rates ten times better than a human is capable of. Based on a study by Bill Yerazunis of CRM114, the average human is only 99.84% accurate. Both filters are reporting to have reached accuracy levels between 99.983% and 99.984% (1 misclassification in 6250 messages) using completely different approaches (CRM114 touts Markovan, while DSPAM implements a Dolby-type noise reduction algorithm called Dobly). If you're looking for a way to rid spam from your inbox, roll on over to one of these authors' websites."

23 of 487 comments (clear)

  1. Outclassed... by Klatoo55 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm sorry, Dave... That Nigerian guy looks suspicious and I can't let you send him money.

    --
    ------- "A true friend stabs you in the front." -Eliot
  2. Who is sending that one? by ObviousGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    If your email is indistuinguishable from spam by a human, perhaps the problem isn't the receiver. It's the sender.

    Forgive me if I don't feel any pity that some moron's email gets filtered to the junk bin because I couldn't discern it from spam.

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  3. To get this new spam filter... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just enter a valid email address, and hit submit!

  4. less thought for me... by Digitus1337 · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...and only one locked pod bay door per 6250, I like those odds.

  5. Hmmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Probably used those same people who open viruses as test subjects.

  6. i tend to think... by caino59 · · Score: 3, Funny

    that i'm 100% accurate.

    maybe some of those people just dont know where their 'del' key is, or what it does...

  7. actually by Digitus1337 · · Score: 5, Funny

    it's not that humans are not as accurate, it's that 1 in X times we really do want a mini camera or free porn. It is what seperates us from those cold, heartless machines.... mini cameras and porn....

  8. News story Headline by tacokill · · Score: 3, Funny

    My Machine outhinks me!!"

    I've seen better stories in Highlights for Children

  9. *slams head against wall* by Faust7 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I received an email from my sister-in-law from her work

    Yeah, so did I. The subject line was "I want you so bad."

    I deleted it. Turned out the message was genuine. I'll never forgive myself...

    --
    The coolest voice ever.
    1. Re:*slams head against wall* by Bendebecker · · Score: 4, Funny

      If you can't forgive yourself, I'll forgive you... as soon as I recieve your sister-in-law's email address.

      --
      There's a growing sense that even if The Future comes,
      most of us won't be able to afford it.
      -- Lemmy
    2. Re:*slams head against wall* by maddskillz · · Score: 5, Funny

      If it was your sister-in-law sending you that subject line, you probably did the right thing and deleted it

  10. Re:Huh? Aren't humans 100%? by helzerr · · Score: 3, Funny
    To these people, a computer is merely an interesting string of sensations.

    Best phrase I've read all week... Oh, yeah, it's only Monday! This one will probably hold me over 'till Friday, though. ;-)

  11. Don't worry by sik0fewl · · Score: 4, Funny

    Don't worry, I can forward you the one she sent me. Sounds like the same email.

    --
    I remember when legal used to mean lawful, now it means some kind of loophole. - Leo Kessler
  12. Re:Huh? Aren't humans 100%? by queen+of+everything · · Score: 3, Funny

    I work with some people who use their computer every single day. Have had an email address for years, who still buys what they read in an email. Photoshop for $50...sure! Herbal viagra...why not?

    Well, she always has a big smile on her face, maybe there's something to this spam thing.

    --
    "Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the life-long attempt to acquire it." -Albert Einstein
  13. Re:Huh? Aren't humans 100%? by rixstep · · Score: 4, Funny

    Lots of people don't know what popups are.

    Uh, sure they do. Popups - that's like those porn storms, isn't it? Some people say it only happens with IE and Windows, but I talked to my service provider and they told me 'just pull the power plug out of the wall when that happens'.

    Easily fixed.

  14. The CRM114? by tramm · · Score: 3, Funny

    I bet it allows messages from General Jack D Ripper or any email that contains the secret phrase "purity of essence", "peace on earth" or "precious bodily fluids".

    --
    -- http://www.swcp.com/~hudson/
  15. Re:Huh? Aren't humans 100%? by Trejkaz · · Score: 4, Funny

    Presumably they must use a superhuman who has 100.00% accuracy.

    --
    Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
  16. Re:Huh? Aren't humans 100%? by Pieroxy · · Score: 3, Funny

    I have never deleted an email I meant to keep

    How could you possibly know? You deleted it!!

    --
    Write boring code, not shiny code!
  17. Re:Huh? Aren't humans 100%? by SLot · · Score: 3, Funny

    Then megacorp could sue spammer into oblivion.

    Or more likely, megacorp fires it's mail administrators for being incompetent and goes on about it's business.

  18. Re:Huh? Aren't humans 100%? by Marvin_OScribbley · · Score: 4, Funny

    I talked to my service provider and they told me 'just pull the power plug out of the wall when that happens'.

    Ok, now the screen dimmed a little and I heard the hard drive spin down, but the pop ups are still a comin! Oh, and something about "battery level at 98%" or something.

    --
    I'm not a journalist, but I play one on slashdot
  19. Re:Huh? Aren't humans 100%? by ergean · · Score: 5, Funny

    There goes my bussines idea. I wanted to start a bussines that puts humans in an eastern europe contry to sort corporate e-mail.

    Now I have to think again about putting humans to decorticate sunflower seeds, it's cheper than all those machines.

  20. Re:Huh? Aren't humans 100%? by Fnkmaster · · Score: 4, Funny
    Well, she always has a big smile on her face, maybe there's something to this spam thing.


    You mean you've never noticed this before? Idiots are some of the happiest people I know.

  21. It _can't_ know which pr0n I think is spam vs good by ron_ivi · · Score: 4, Funny
    I signed up for lots of junk mail lists; some solicited, some not -- sometimes from the same organizations.

    How would it know if I consider brunettes non-spam but blondes spam? I did opt-in for one of those email categories, but not the other.