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A Day with an ISP Spam Investigator

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the on-the-trail dept.

scumbucket writes "Network World Fusion has an interesting article about an abuse investigator for ISP Earthlink and his job of tracking down spammers. It's nice to see that major ISP's are making an effort to shut spammers down and kick them off of their networks."

8 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Dumb business attracts dumb users by YetAnotherName · · Score: 3, Funny

    FTFA: One notorious spammer, whom EarthLink helped put behind bars, repeatedly used the names of sports such as baseball and football as his password.

    Spammers are stupider than I realized.

  2. Let me be the first to say.. by big+tex · · Score: 1, Funny

    This is a great man.

    --
    I think I need a new sig here.
  3. Those evil young males by CliffEmAll · · Score: 5, Funny
    Often suspected spammers are clueless of the network abuse they're committing. Maybe a virus took over a customer's PC and secretly started blasting spam, or perhaps a computer-addicted teenager holed up in his bedroom is sending out bulk e-mail, unbeknown to his parents. "I usually ask if there's a young male in the house," Rush says.

    Yes, the typical spammer is a slashdot-reading geek who lives with his parents. ... Reminds me of a thing I read earlier warning parents about signs of their child engaging in dangerous hacking, such as use of Linux or requests for better hardware.

    Just what a geek needs, another reason for parents to be suspicious of his computer usage. Help! I'm a computer addicted teenager who can't stop sending spam, and this is really a cry for help!

  4. Very sensible by SillyWilly · · Score: 4, Funny

    "He only reads the content of an e-mail in extreme cases, he says."

    I've always found it safest to avoid reading email, unless I'm feeling really daring...

    --
    Online & Feelin' Fine
  5. Re:Spamming as a job. by AndroidCat · · Score: 2, Funny

    You could always send your resume out in a virus and see what offers you get. That seems to be the new thing. :)

    --
    One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  6. Re:How to solve the Spam problem by SillyWilly · · Score: 5, Funny

    "not whimpering soccer players'

    American Football - British rugby (but with pads so the ickle Americans don't get hurt. Everyone say awwwwww)

    --
    Online & Feelin' Fine
  7. decent post.. by sinner0423 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well, with these kind of statistics, he'll be gainfully employed for years to come.

    While he believes his job is important, Rush doesn't take the role of Internet cop too seriously. But he admits with a chuckle that his favorite computer game at the moment is called City of Heroes.

    I'd sit back all day and play CoH, and tell my boss "Sure, I killed off 800 spammers today. But 30,000 more popped up. Guess I'll be seeing you monday."

    I need me one of those gigs. Anyone offering?

  8. Re:White Hat or Censorship? by iamatlas · · Score: 3, Funny
    (Just like wannabe painters can't exhibit in my living room.)

    Oh, real nice for you to tell me that now! I was all packed and ready to go.

    And how did I get modded insightful? The site I linked to is SatireWire. I'm beginning to thing that some people don't RTFA I link to!