Spam Blockers: What They Can Do to Protect You

Spam blockers might be among the most important things that have to come along with your computer. This is most especially true if you are connected to the internet and you are more likely to be targeted by phishers and spammers. Having an efficient spam blocker installed in your PC will not only save you from the trouble of deleting numerous junk mails that arrive in your inbox. Spam blockers can even protect you from the dangers posed by viruses and phishing that usually get through your PC through unsolicited spams. Here are more reasons why you should have a spam blocker installed in your PC:

Spam blockers help you avoid tricky and dangerous spam mails. Having an inbox flooded by unsolicited junk mails in not only irritating, it is troublesome. Even if you have spent plenty of time and effort deleting the spam messages that arrive in your mailbox, they just keep coming back. In addition to this, unwanted spam messages that arrive in your mailbox are not only limited to those that advertise pornographic products. Spam messages are the hackers’ and phishers’ bridge to steal important information from you such as your bank and credit card numbers. Without a spam blocker, these spoofed email messages will keep on coming back and it is not impossible that you will fall prey to one of them. A spam blocker is therefore helpful in protecting you against phishing and spamming by blocking unwanted emails before they hit your inbox.

Spam blockers help you save time. Deleting junk mails is tiring and time consuming. The time you spend checking your bulk messages and your inbox for suspicious entries could have been spent in more fruitful and enjoyable activity. The worse thing is that despite your time and effort, the spams that you have deleted are more likely to return. Spam blockers cannot only help you avoid the hassles of manually deleting the spam mails that arrive in your inbox. They can also protect your inbox from receiving similar spam messages in the future.

There are a number of anti-spam softwares and spam blockers that are available for you to choose from. You can either download free spam blockers or purchase spam blockers from the internet. If you are looking for a spam blocker for Outlook, you can make use of SpamButcher which is considered as an efficient outlook express spam blocker.

Spam is troublesome and dangerous. It is therefore best that you protect yourself from it. The most efficient means to do this is by installing a spam blocker in your computer. Spam blockers help you avoid tricky and dangerous spam mails. They also help you save time and effort dealing with unwanted spam in your PC. If you have decided that now is the best time to effectively fight spam, do so with spam blockers. They can do a lot to help and protect you from the dangers and troubles of spam.

Jeff Dodd is well versed in Spam Blocker. Please visit us at http://www.spams-blocker.com.

Simple Spam Prevention

Spam affects literally everyone who uses the Internet these days. Whether it's a free Yahoo email account or paid account from an ISP, a spammer more than likely will find you if they haven't already. What to do about spam has been highly debated and a huge market exists to block spammers.

Anti-spam software has been utilized by millions to combat the irrelevant and sometimes crude advertising that fills their business and personal inboxes. The big problem with anti-spam software and email accounts is that many emails, some which you may be expecting can get put into the blocked folders unintentionally. This can create a huge hassle for many people and browsing through a spam folder can be even more difficult when you have 500 messages. You more than likely end up deleting more than a few non-spam messages, some that are important.

The best and most wise step to combating spam is to do your best to not end up on a list where spammers may find you. Follow some of these tips and you may find spam no longer is a word that relates to your everyday life.

1.) Carefully read all online forms you fill out. Many forms have opt-in buttons prechecked for approval of emailed offers from their partners. You want to make sure you uncheck those boxes. Unless you know all their partners, you probably don't want loads of offers and rebates from companies you don't know.

2.) When filling out forms make sure you look for a disclaimer stating that your email will be kept confidential and not sold. Many companies sell their email information to people who in turn sometimes resell email names down the line to shadier companies until lists are available to anyone. Anyone includes spammers.

3.) Money making offers online, beware! If the offer to make money from home is vague there's a good chance your email will be handed to a database of 100 or more people looking to recruit for their MLM. This can end you up with tons of money making opportunities and yes, the quality of offers will deteriorate and eventually expect viagra and porn offers a year from now. Make sure you know the money making opportunity before giving your email, otherwise expect the worst.

All in all, common sense is more than likely going to be your best weapon against spam. Don't put your email in the hands of just anyone. Treat your email as you would your own child.

Spam Statistics

We all hate spam and no, we don’t mean the kind in the can popular in Hawaii. Spam dominates most everyone’s email inboxes and even meanders its way into your Internet experience. Even the best spam blocker may need to work overtime to clear your files and simplify your life. However, using spam protection is vital to ward off potential viruses lurking in all those “get rich quick” ads you love.

What’s the word on spam?

• The average PC user receives over 2,000 and counting spammed emails per year.

• The average computer user receives about 10 spams per day.

• Spam is expected to increase by about 63% in 2007.

• About 28% of people answer spam emails—we don’t encourage this!

• 15-20% of corporate email is spam…and it’s ever-growing.

• 25% of spam is product-related.

• About 90 billion spam emails are sent per day.

• Nearly 80% of spam emails are sent from zombie networks or botnets.

• China has the highest rate of “spamvertized” websites—i.e. Links back to websites.

• 63% of “take my email off your list” aren’t fulfilled.

• 86% of emails posted on websites end up receiving spam.

While these aren’t encouraging numbers, it’s nearly unavoidable to take your email address off of the Internet. It’s also hard to read spammed emails sometimes, as the smartest spammers know how to reel you in through a friendly subject title.

What’s the average Joe PC- user to do but compare spam filters and hunt down the best spam protection possible on the Web? One site, 6StarReviews.com, makes mention of some choices for you, such as SpamShield. SpamShield allows users to accept or reject email senders, blocks most spam and even offers a free trial.

This spam blocker also acts in a manner similar to leading antivirus protection services, updating their spam knowledgebase’s to include the latest threats. We recommend protecting that PC so you don’t have to fall prey to email scams, annoying spam and viruses. It’s your right.

Kelly Liyakasa is a staff writer for 6StarReviews.com. Kelly Staller is site manager at 6StarReviews.com, a site dedicated to giving YOU, the consumer, the best product and service reviews around. If you like saving time and money by having someone else review leading sites and products, then Visit our site at 6StarReviews.com.

How to reduce spam

The internet has brought us so many great things but is also brought us a few bad things and one of those things is SPAM. Everyone gets spam and we all hate it. Some people are targeted ruthlessly, especially those with websites, receiving hundreds per day. Did you know that about 40% of emails that are sent are Spam? It is annoying, frustrating and sometimes a very serious problem for some people. It can be dangerous because some messages are sent with viruses and Trojans which can be used to steal your personal information.

Spammers buy lists of email addresses from a list broker. If your email address appears in a newsgroup posting, on a website, in a chat room, or in an online service's membership directory, it is very possible it may find its way onto these lists. The spammer then uses special software that can send hundreds of thousands — even millions — of email messages to the addresses at the click of a mouse.

Filtering Spam wastes time and money, it is something we shouldn’t have to do. It is worth using software to combat it. There are so many different types of Anti-Spam on the market today who knows which is best. Buying the most expensive doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best.

Here are a few things you should remember to try and reduce the amount of Spam you receive:

• NEVER open Spam or Attachments in a Spam email- if you do, you run the risk of infecting your machine with viruses and Trojans.
• DO NOT click the unsubscribe link- this just confirms to them your email address is correct.
• Use different email accounts for different purposes for example, one for work one for your personal life and one for online shopping.
• DO NOT display your email address in public. That includes newsgroup postings, chat rooms, websites or in an online service's membership directory.
• Check the privacy policy when you submit your address to a website.
• Use an email filter. Check your email account to see if it provides a tool to filter out potential spam or a way to channel spam into a bulk email folder. Or buy an email filter.

Unless we all try to fight spam it will only get worse. We need to all be aware of the dangers of leaving our personal information on websites, forums or chat rooms. Using spam filters is one way to fight the spammers and I would recommend we all use one.

If you are really fed up with Spam and none of the above reduces the amount you receive you could report it to the Federal Trade Commission. If the “remove me” request is not honoured you can send a copy of unwanted or deceptive messages to spam@uce.gov. You could complain by filling out the FTC’s online compliant form on their site: www.ftc.gov. The FTC uses the unsolicited emails stored in this database to pursue law enforcement actions against people who send deceptive spam email.

Carolyn is the webmaster of MySpamBin a leading UK supplier of Anti-Spam Solutions.

Spam Blocker For Microsoft Outlook – Slightly Different From Outlook Express, But Almost The Same Functionality

Microsoft Outlook is a slightly different product from Outlook Express in terms of email management. Released in versions like Microsoft Outlook 2000 and Microsoft Outlook 2003, the Outlook email programs have had and will continue to have their share of users along with Outlook Express. Considering that spam emails are a constant threat to anyone using e-mail as a form of communication, irrespective of which email program is being used, downloading a spam blocker for Microsoft Outlook becomes all the more significant. But the question is, do you really need to download a spam blocker software exclusively for Microsoft Outlook?

Microsoft Outlook comes with an in-built anti-spam, junk email filtering service which uses Microsoft’s SmartScreen Technology. Based on machine-learning Bayesian Technology, the SmartScreen Technology uses probability based algorithms to determine if an email is legitimate or a spam email. The key inputs to the database which helps the SmartScreen Technology detect spam are inputs from thousands of users of Hotmail. The way it works is the moment hotmail users spot a spam email, they are encouraged to report it back to Hotmail. What Hotmail does is feed this data back to Microsoft, which in turn maintains the database for spammers. This database is often referred to by Microsoft’s email products for anti-spamming. The features that come with Microsoft Outlook 2003 to counter spam are as follows

· Junk e-mail filter

· Safe Sender’s list

· Safe Recipients list

· Blocked Sender’s list

· AutoUpdate

The difference between Microsoft Outlook 2000 and Microsoft Outlook 2003 is that in Outlook 2000 the email user has to create his own spam filter customized to what he needs. Outlook 2003 on the other hand comes with a pre-defined spam filter which combats spam. Though one can customize the degree to which a user wants Outlook 2003 to block spam emails. A brief tutorial in Microsoft Outlook 2003 teaches users exactly how to allocate the degree of spam control for the Outlook inbox. Users are given options between low, high and No Junk email filter. Needless to say, if one wishes to prevent the email inbox from being bombarded by spam, it's wise to choose one of the first two options.

Other features like the "Safe Senders List" allows to define the email addresses who should never be treated as a spam email address. This allows Microsoft Outlook to clear emails coming from these email addresses through the anti-spamming test. Making anti-spamming a two-way traffic, a "Safe Recipients List" also allows users to send emails to addresses or domains without ever having to be in danger of being reported as a spammer.

Sandra Stammberger owns and operates http://www.webantispam.com Anti Spam

Astak WL906D Weatherproof Night Vision Wireless CCD Color Camera

These cameras are now in high use and people are keen to install these cameras to ensure better home security. Homeland security cameras also help you keep an eye on your children at play time. These cameras considerably minimize risks of theft, robbery, burglary and other criminal offenses. The prices of these cameras are pretty cheap and these cameras are now also sold online.

There are different models if security cameras but Astak WL906D Weatherproof Night Vision Wireless CCD Color Camera is both good looking and functions well.

Weatherproof wireless CCD cameras are in high demand and this camera can be attached to the TV or VCR. Usually no wiring is required and it gets installed within just 5 minutes. Most of the wireless cameras come with sensitive microphones and provide audio-visual monitoring.

Many people prefer security systems but the security systems are often costly and people cannot afford it. For such people, Astak WL906D Weatherproof Night Vision Wireless CCD Color Camera is the ideal solution. Moreover, this is weatherproof and wireless. The price is also affordable. These CCD color cameras are widely available in Wall mart stores.

Individuals need to feel they have a secure home. Often for many reasons, measures of security remain lower that what should be done. This can lead to major crisis and unwanted hassle. So, precautionary measures are highly advisable. The Astak WL906D Weatherproof Night Vision Wireless CCD Color Cameras come with powerful Imaging Sensor of: 1/4-inch CCD. It takes hardly five minutes to complete the installation process. Overall weigh of the camera is 8 kgs and the dimension is Width x Length x Height = 44 x 44 x 56 mm.While purchasing any Weatherproof Night Vision Wireless CCD Color Camera, it is prudent to check the night vision range; the night vision range of this camera is 30 feet.

Astak WL906D Weatherproof Night Vision Wireless CCD Color Camera is indeed provides a fashionable look. The price usually ranges between $135 and $ 140.With a shutter speed of 1/50 - 1/10,000 second, the camera effectively monitors the front and the backyards of the home and ensures safety. Instead of being confused with the different home security cameras available in the market, it is prudent to rely upon this Astak manufactured camera.

Selection of a wrong CD camera can be just wastage of money, so vivid research can be of great use. There are different online articles on home security cameras and it is best to go through them to have a clear insight about these cameras. Performance of Astak WL906D Weatherproof Night Vision Wireless CCD Color Camera has been good and it is a reliable product. The prince of this CCD Camera is moderate compared to the other similar products available in the market.

Online retailer offering consumer electronics products, including cellular phones and accessories, personal computers, and computer components. Network power cameras are now available directly through Netfreez at remarkable prices. Choose also the right installation kits for Cameras. To find out more information, please visit http://www.netfreez.com/

An Easy Way To Help Stop Spam

It's like a clog in your plumbing...

Every day you open up your email browser and every day there they are. Pharmaceuticals. ED aids. Make money from home. Come chat with me because I'm bored. The list goes on and on.

Sound familiar? It should, because I'm talking about something everyone hates--SPAM!

It's like a plague that spreads throughout the net and gets nastier and nastier with each passing day. And there's no end in sight.

I know of a guy who works for a mid-sized company as the IT Director, and he once told me he deletes literally thousands of spam emails from their filters every day. EVERY DAY.

Yes, there is the Can Spam Act, and yes, you hear about a spammer getting sent to the slammer once in a blue moon. But for every one that goes away, it seems like a few more pop up in his place.

So what's an internet user to do?

Well, there's several things we all know of. There's some great software online (much of it free) that you can use to help cut down on the amount of spam you receive. Just do a search for anti spam software or spam blocker reviews and you'll find a lot of choices.

But if you do set up a spam catch-all, make sure and check it every once in a while. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, a legitimate email will wind up among all the spam. So it's always good to surf through your spam folder every now and then.

One other thing you can do--and this is amazingly easy, yet so few people do it--is to be more careful about how and where you type in your email address.

See. spammers have automated systems that harvest email addresses that are publicly listed on the net. They cruise places like forums and bulletin boards, looking for the telltale signs, such as the "@" symbol, and suck up these unsuspecting addresses into their spam databases.

Chances are you've put your email address out there at one time or another. And chances are, that's why you're getting a ton of spam these days.

But that's where you can help stop them...

Next time you post your email address anywhere, instead of using the "@" symbol, just type in the word AT. Anybody who has been using email for a while will know they you don't really mean for them to use the word "AT" in your email address, and that the word needs to be replaced by the symbol.

But the automated robots don't know that. When they see "John AT domain.com" it means nothing. So they pass it up. But if it says "John@domain.com", then they see it as an email address and scoop it up.

See how easy that is?

Try this from now on and see if your spam load decreases. My guess is, with time, you'll see much less spam than you used to.

Jay White is a copywriter and marketer who hates spam and everything that goes with it. For more tips on how you can help eliminate spam, check out http://www.spamblockingtips.com Block Spam

Review of Cloudmark SpamNet

Cloudmark is one of the most effective anti-spam products available in the market. In the present world, internet is the core of communication, and the security of internet communication is as essential as your personal security. Spams were the primary disturbance, which was followed by virus, a malicious threat to the whole system.

Cloudmark is a proven anti-spam product in the market, which is available in different configurations, according to the purpose of use. Cloud mark is providing focused anti-spam products for home and home office, service providers, businesses, and partners. The specific products are prepared such to give importance to the functionality of the group. The head to head analysis reveals that the spam filter is far ahead of its competitors in the overall accuracy of the spam protection. Moreover, it is also particular to avoid false judgments about necessary emails as spams or phishing.

As every other anti-spam product, the primary attention of Cloudmark Spamnet will be to monitor the junk mails thoroughly. It monitors the incoming emails thoroughly, to find out and sort the blacklisted spams. But, the real specialty of the Cloudmark products are the community based filtering system. If any new message comes to the inbox, it cross check in the network for any suspected possibility of spam, virus and phishing, and the email is sorted according to the result from the network. The Cloudmark anti-spam products in the all around the world are networked with its servers, which is working in an adding up policy. The cyber criminals develop new devastators day by day, and if any kind of such new threats are addressed or any new filter is introduced; the addresses, URLs, subject lines, and text in the junk messages are communicated to the rest of the products in the network for better security. The community based anti-spam networking thus attributes cutting edge to Cloudmark, in a field with extreme competition, with a total security and up to date technology.

Cloudmark anti-spam program can be downloaded from the internet and installed in your computer. You can have a free trial period of 15 days, after which, you can subscribe the software in nominal prices. However, the needy ones will not hesitate to subscribe Cloudmark in the name of cost as the features are certainly cost effective. As the basic criterion of every successful program, Cloudmark is also a user friendly program, which can be customized according to the personal preferences. The regular clean up of the space is also undertaken by Cloud mark effectively, to avoid the storage constrains. Cloudmark also has a unique rating system for its users in the network. In the network, the persons, who are more using the Cloudmark, will get more influence in the network.

Cloudmark works efficiently in Outlook and Outlook Express. However, it can be also a drawback for the anti-spam software since email support is not available for customers working in any other platforms. Cloudmark anti-spam software cannot be given the perfect anti-spam titles because of these simple disadvantages. The other incapability of Cloudmark is that it cannot monitor the web based emails. Also, it cannot provide help system other than online.

Cloudmark is one of the useful anti-spam products in the market, which has certain significant attributes such as community networking. Even though it is not a perfect suggestion, Cloudmark is constantly revising its features and get updated according to the present moment strategies.

If you're interested in more ways to combat spam come join us at http://www.thespamblocker.com - we have anti spam articles, forums, reviews and more...

What is Phishing?

Phishing is a one of the fastest-growing cybercrimes and costs consumers millions of dollars each year. Pronounced "fishing", is named from spammers using fraudulent email messages to "fish" for information in an attempt to get their recipients to divulging personal data like credit card numbers, bank account numbers, social security numbers, and passwords. Phishing is typically carried out by email or instant messaging, and often directs users to give details at a particular website. It is one of the biggest threats on the internet and users need to be made more aware of what it is and what it can do. Phishing is so prevalent on the internet that if you receive an email supposedly from your bank, it’s likely to be either a criminal attempt to get your login details or a real email warning you to be careful of this scam.

The rapidly growing class of identity theft scams on the internet has caused both short-term and long-term economic damage, faced by millions of people every day. First appearing more than ten years ago, phishing has grown to become the international electronic crime of choice for both amateurs and professionals alike. This scam typically works like this: a scammer sends you an email message making it seem like it is an official message from a company you may have financial or other interests with, like your bank, PayPal, or eBay, and ask for your personal information such as social security number, account number or password. These emails are also becoming more personalized, making them more believable to their victims and has become such a problem on AOL that they added a message on their instant messenger stating: "no one working at AOL will ask for your password or billing information". These types of attacks have outnumbered e-mails infected with viruses and trojans. Most methods of phishing use some form of deception designed to make a link in an email appear to belong to a legitimate organization, while in fact it sends you to a bogus website. If you get a suspicious email contains a URL link, don't click on it, roll your mouse over the link and see if it matches what appears in the email. Learn to recognize spoof emails by checking web addresses and security indicators, such as a locked padlock on the browser frame. As a general rule, never click on emails coming from unknown sources. Spam filters can help by reducing the number of phishing emails that users receive, however spammers often use poor spelling, bad grammar, missing words and logic gaps to get around the filters.

Phishing is the fastest growing crime which everyone on the internet is susceptible to, an old con game taking advantage of new technology. It is so prevalent because it is such a low-cost and low-effort activity. Phishing attacks are likely to grow more sophisticated and our defenses against them must continue to improve to combat them.

AARON H PRATHER owns and operates http://www.whatisphishing101.com providing infomation regarding phishing attacks and identity theft scams.What Is Phishing

Use a Spam Blocker to Keep Your Computer Safe

Every individual who uses email should have a spam blocker up and running on their computer. Spam presents a major problem for both individuals and businesses. Unwanted email clogs up inboxes and can inflict a computer with a harmful virus.

The spam problem has become so large that even the United States’ government is involved in trying to prevent spam. Some computer companies have also established groups designed to implement new strategies to prevent spamming. Individuals spend millions of dollars each year trying to protect their computers from spam and harmful viruses.

Many people install spam blockers or filters on their computer to help them get rid of unwanted email. These programs work by either blocking certain email addresses or filtering what is believed to be spam into another file in the email program. As spam is always changing, spam blockers and filters do not always work in getting rid of every piece of spam and sometimes real messages are blocked accidentally.

A spam blocker can use several different ways of trying to protect a computer. The first type is blacklists, where the email addresses and domain names of spammers are blocked. This system is not considered to be very effective since spammers can easily get around the system and there may be a number of legitimate emails blocked.

Another type of spam blocker is collaborate blacklists. With this type, users identify spammers and a centralized system creates a list of email addresses that users have labeled as spammers. Sometimes legitimate newsletters and other emails get blacklisted when enough individuals label them as spam instead of unsubscribing themselves.

A final type of spam blocker is a whitelist. In this system, a user sets up the email and domain addresses that he will accept email from. When an unknown email sends a message, it is blocked. The system can be labor intensive as the user must manually set up the accepted emails.

Some whitelists use an extension which sends a response back to email addresses asking them to confirm their identity. This helps identify real emails, while weeding out spammers who won’t reply. Newsletters can also get caught in this system so users need to make sure that they manually confirm all newsletters or promotional emails that they want.

Although spam blockers present some challenges in that they sometimes let spam through and sometimes block legitimate emails, they are currently some of the best ways to identify and prevent spam. Advances will continue to occur as individuals, companies, and governments work to create better ways of protecting inboxes from spam.

A spam blocker is an important tool for every computer user, even though the system remains imperfect. Spam blockers will help save you time and help protect your computer from harmful viruses.

Frank j Vanderlugt owns and operates http://www.spam-blocker-now.info 2 Spamblockernowinfo

Tips to Prevent Spam

Spam isn’t limited to the harmless email chain we’ve all been guilty of sending to friends and family members. Many of us feel that receiving email spam is a lost cause and we’re sentenced to cleaning our inboxes out each morning. Though completely ridding spam from your life may be an unattainable task, there are steps you can take to reduce the number you receive:

• Create a separate email address (free ones like Gmail and Hotmail work great) when registering for an online group or Web-newsletter.

• When posting content on the Web, don’t include your primary email address. Spammers can easily add you to their lists.

• Trick the spam spiders-If you post an email address online, disguise it’s setup, spelling out ‘dot com’ in place of ‘.com

• If you sign up for a list, be sure it’s for that sole site and your information won’t get passed around.

• Read text-only emails or request your mail provider notify you before downloading images or HTML.

• If you receive forwarded chain emails from friends or family, ask them to stop. Even if you trust who is sending you the email, your name will still be visible to whoever continues sending the chain.

• Purchase a spam filter. It’s a small price to pay when you think of all the junk mail you’ll avoid.

6StarReviews.com notes several spam filters that can do the trick and reduce unwanted spam mail. Anti-spam software programs like Spam Shield have unique features such as LashBack, a setting that removes spam and prevents that user from ever forwarding you junk mail again. Spam Monitor also paves the way in spam protection by letting users make black and whitelists to ensure important email reaches their inbox. Preventing spam doesn’t have to cost you your sanity!

Kelly Liyakasa is staff writer for 6StarReviews.com, a site dedicated to giving YOU, the consumer, the best product and service reviews around. If you like saving time and money by having someone else review leading sites and products, then Visit our site at 6StarReviews.com.

History of Spam

The internet began as a military and educational project, it was never indented to be used for money making, and meaning there was no reason to send out commercial mail (spam). There was no such thing as spam, just emails of a non commercial nature.

The story behind the term ‘Spam’ is one that resolves around the comedy sketching of a British comedy act called Monty Python. In this particular sketch a man and his wife are in a restaurant trying to order, but everything they order had spam in it and while trying to get an order that lacked spam there are Vikings singing in the background; "Spam spam spam spam. Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!" This episode of Monty Python was around when the internet was merely a few computers connected together via telephone wire.

It is believed the first spam email was written when the internet was called the ‘Arpanet.’ It came from an employee of Digital Equipment Corporation. The email was meant to be sent to everyone on the Arpanet; however some names were cut off as space was limited.

The accurate term for email spam is Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE), though you'll see the term Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) used more often.

The multi-level marketing crowd and the porn pushers; these are the scammers that spam is most popular amongst because it costs them so little to send. This is because they send it by stealing the resources of others.

In 1986 a man named Dave Rhodes became one of the first people to send what is now regarded as a dreadful form of spam messages. Dave Rhodes was a supposed College student, however there is no record that a Dave Rhodes attended the college he said he did or that he actually existed at all. The email that he was claimed to have sent was advertising a Pyramid Scheme. This message was sent to a newsgroup called Usenet. Sadly a lot of people probably sent their hard earned cash to Dave Rhodes only to get nothing in return.

In 1993 a man called Richard Depew wrote a program that would delete postings from newsgroups; ironically this programme had a bug in it and ended up posting 200 messages to the News Admin Policy Newsgroup. This is the first instance of messages being called ‘spam.’

In 1994, two men known as Cantor and Siegel became two of the most hated users of the internet after posting an advertisement to 6,000 newsgroups all at the same time.

Today spam is worse than ever with over 90 million spam emails being sent every day. It is also estimated that Microsoft creator Bill Gates receives four million emails per year, with spam making up a large majority.

Over 85% of emails are spam and this number shows no sign of slowing down.

Helen Cox is the web master. This site is for all of your Spam Filters needs

What are HTML Forms & Contact Forms?

HTML forms and contact forms are a terrific enhancement for your website. These are used by various companies and individuals for collecting all kinds of important information, from answers and surveys to order forms.

A contact form is another way to display your email address as a link. When you contact a business or website owner through a webpage instead of your own email program you are using a contact form.

If you own any type of website, adding a html form or a contact form will give your site interaction between you and your visitors and, in some cases, interaction between visitors.

Some of the reasons to add contact forms to your websites include:

Joining your newsletter Adding comments Asking questions Filling out an application for employment Answering survey questions Joining clubs Answering multi-choice polls These are just a few of the reasons you may wish to add html forms and contact forms to your website. We offer you the ability to create all kinds of html forms online so, all you have to do is copy the form and then paste it onto the page you wish the form to be displayed. You will be able to decide how many fields you need for your html form, name each field, choose the size of the field, and the type of data that should be placed in the blank. You can have the contact form blend in with the colors and text of your website or, make the form stand out by choosing the color of text and background. Choosing what information is mandatory is up to you, depending on what you need the html form for. If you only need an email address and first name for joining your newsletter then, that is all you have to have fields for, however, if you need to ask several questions regarding expertise for an employment application you can add all of these with multi-choice features or blank fields for the person to fill in. Polls are often a wonderful way to get your visitors involved in all kinds of things, from political questions to favorite entertainment artists or songs. With these polls, you can post the top answers chosen by your guests, which gives them a way to interact and be involved in your website. This information can then be used to add information to your website. Example: If you wish to talk about celebrities, you can find out which celebrities are among the favorites of your guests before you begin working on the topic. This will ensure more visitors to your website to read all the gossip. Html forms and contact forms will be a wonderful tool that can help your business whether you need it for employment applications, taking orders, sending newsletters, or just for fun. Add a html form to your website today and begin watching the difference in website visitors.

Ted Peterson uses html forms as contact forms on this website to keep in touch with his site visitors. He recommends the free service plan from 123ContactForm.

Why is Spam causing such a problem on the Internet?

Out of all the emails we receive it is estimated that 60% of them are spam emails. So is there a cure to stop the spam permanently? Unfortunately there is no cure at the moment and only time will tell if there is ever going to be one. As the spam filters keep coming the spammers are getting cleverer, finding more and more ways to fill our inboxes with junk mail.

As the internet is growing and more of us are getting email accounts the spam is growing with it. The situation is getting worse rather than better. If your business/company has a website it is a great marketing tool as you can showcase your products and or services to more people who you normally wouldn’t be able to without a website. Many businesses that have a website need to have their email address on the site so that customers can get in touch with them, however this leaves them open to spam.

In order for your business to run efficiently without having to spend hours deleting spam emails you need to invest in a spam filter. Spam filters work by scanning email messages for keywords that are often used by spammers; however this can sometimes end up blocking emails from family, friends or clients.

Have you ever broken down the hours of the working day? When you really think about it an eight hour working day doesn’t mean that those eight hours are going to be spent working. In reality about 6 of those hours amount to actual work that is done. One hour is spent on a lunch break and another hour is dedicated to toilet breaks, small talk, making drinks and generally sorting things out between pieces of work. However if your business/company lacks a decent spam filter you could end up with another hour being taken up by sorting through unwanted emails to find emails from your clients, friends and family. That means getting rid of spam could take up to five hours a week, 20 hours a month which is 240 hours a year.

If you are anti spam then the way the best way to handle it is to use good anti-spam software or Spam Filter. All of your emails are sent through a series of intelligent filters to ensure you only receive the emails you want and need.

A good spam filter only costs between £30 and £50 which, when you think about all of the money you lose through loss of production, will actually save you money in the long run.

Spam messages can contain hidden viruses and Trojans, which can make your systems crash, causing lost data and down-time due to servers being overloaded with data in the form of spam.

Spam filters block 99% of spam emails as well as viruses and Trojans that can come with them. They make your computer and business network safe, giving you complete peace of mind and allowing you to get on with your work, which is what matters.

Helen Cox is the web master of MySpamBin; home of all your Spam Filter needs. Please feel free to republish this article providing this resource box remains intact with a working hyperlink to our site.

The Job of the Spam Filter

Even if you have one of the best spam filters on the market, some spam will always make it through. What is more important than having the best spam filter on the market is having the right spam filter for you. One spam filter doesn’t automatically benefit everyone, you need to find a spam filter that is best for your needs.

Pretty much everyone with a an email account has a certain amount of spam, even if you never visit any of the typical places that spammers harvest email addresses from, such as forums, chat rooms and other websites. All it takes is one spammer to find out that your email account is active and you will find your account will be flooded by more spam mail. One of the main reasons why there is so much spam around is because spam emails are so easy to create.

Many, if not all email users rely on some form of spam filter to block out spam emails as oppose to manually going through each individual email to delete them. However even when using spam filters some genuine messages can get caught up in the spam filter, meaning messages that you actually want/need to receive are getting deleted.

There are many different spam filters available today, all of which deal with spam in different ways. These spam filters vary in technique but by having so many different spam filters available, you are guaranteed to find one that is suitable to your needs.

One of these filters is a user defined filter. This filter is one that is already included in most email accounts. With this filter you can forwards mail to many different mailboxes. For example if you frequently receive mail from friends you can create a mailbox entitled friends and forward the mail from people you know to this mailbox. You can also forward mail to your trash if you are unsure of the sender and if the content of the email looks suspicious. By doing this you need to carefully look at the mail that you are receiving, you should be looking for characteristics and any recurring patterns in the senders email address or the subject line of the email.

Header filters are a more advanced filter, they look at the headers of emails to see if they are fake. The way in which this is done is because email headers contain information regarding the servers that were used to deliver your mail. Spammers don’t want to be traced so they put false information in the email header to stop people directly contacting them. Good spam filters can detect forged headers, showing what email is spam, however not all spam emails have fake headers.

Another filter; that is very specific is a language filter. These filters work by stopping emails that appear in another language. This filter won’t help people who receive a large quantity of spam as spam that appears in other languages isn’t really a major problem when it comes to spam. Spam that appears in another language only makes up a small quantity of the spam that we receive on a daily basis.

One of the more effective spam filters that will be of more help to a lot of people is a content filter. This filter scans all the text in an email to see if the content makes sense. It filters emails that appear "fuzzy." Although this spam filter is effective at catching a lot of spam emails and will benefit most people when it comes to fighting spam, it can also filter out things such as newsletters that you are subscribed to. Another filter that works well is a permission filter. This filter blocks all emails that don’t come from an authorised source. When you first set up this filter and go to send an email you will receive an automated response inviting you to visit a web page. On this page you will need to fill in some details. This will make your account authorised and any future emails that you send will be accepted.

When you choose your spam filter you should make sure that you get one that is right for your needs and that will stop the amount of spam that you are receiving.

Helen Cox is the web master of MySpamBin, home of all your Spam Filter needs.

Decoding CAPTCHA

The amount of trouble hackers are creating has increased tremendously. Every now and then important information is leaked out because of these so called computer geniuses. The passwords that we think cannot be unlocked are dealt with easily. Can’t there be something that can save us from these hackers. Some developers have come up with a new way to safeguard our websites and accounts, CAPTCHA a newfound way of creating security where even computers are not able to solve the information. This is to create security, and only humans can solve CAPTCHA, this means the risk is minimized.

The older version of CAPTCHAS that were used were very much not accessible to the bots but new software’s were made in order to recognize it, and then even these CAPTCHAS were accessed through bots. Thus CAPTCHA decoding gained optimum importance. The reason the older CAPTCHAS did not last for long is that it used nothing different but just was written in a font that the bots could not recognize that. This is not the case with the modern (recent) ones. This time around they have been made much more difficult to solve for the bots where the words are fitted in a very messy manner, To add to the difficulties of the bots the words are cut by a passing line (horizontally as well as vertically) making the task even more difficult to the bots.

Another way that has been used to make it more complicated is that the words are written one over the other; also the words are written in different texts, where some are written in capital letters, whereas some are written in smaller alphabets. Some words are written in letters and some are mixed up with words, and many more different ways.

All these new ways that are used to make the bots ineffectual have worked to a great extent, where many have used this to create security for their websites. Even normal people for their surreptitious use have found the CAPTCHAS difficult to deal with where they are left guessing about it and found asking for help. This new system that seems quite difficult for the bots to solve is because there are no bots created that can counter CAPTCHA with the current technology.

The new technology that is used to save our useful information from the bots is a better cheat code for us that cannot be accessed unless a human is trying to solve it. So if you own a website, you can opt for CAPTCHA as it is renowned for its advantages. Many established companies are using this, such as yahoo, Microsoft, and others. So many websites have accepted CAPTCHA, as computers (bots) are unable to decode it. There are many sites that can get you a CAPTCHA service to be used for your web site. Developers of these sites are also trying to keep in touch with the latest technology of bots, and see to it that they cannot access it. For this the latest of techniques are used. This will keep our important information, passwords, away from a possible threat from the bots.

Renowned author Jay Blaze has detailed knowledge regarding spamming. He has studied spammers psychology and reasons why spamming is so popular. Jay Blaze provides valuable information regarding protection from bots and which systems are more vulnerable towards spam attacks. To know more you can visit: Decoding CAPTCHA & CAPTCHA

Anti Spam Products

In today’s world every internet user suffering a very common problem and this problem is receiving amount of spam mails. But these days’ things are not same as it was earlier. Now days you have many of anti spam products for Secure Messaging.
If you are receiving amount of spam mails and you are looking solution for this problem, then you can use anti spam products to solve out this problem. There are many anti spam products available in the market.
One of them is ITA Secure Messaging which provides you a comprehensive solution for eliminating spam and viruses and strives to provide you better control over e-mail traffic on your mail server. Safeguard your organization’s Microsoft Exchange 5.5, 2000, 2003 or 2007 and all other SMTP servers against spam and e-mail virus attacks with ITA Secure Messaging.
Other one is ITA Mail Archive is an affordable email archiving solution. It provides secure archiving environment with the ability to setup user accounts. ITA Mail Archive is fully compatible with Exchange 2000, 2003 and 2007 servers. It also helps businesses with regulatory compliance such as Sarbanes-Oxley and SEC.
Besides these, ITA offering many others anti spam products like: ITA Secure Messaging Server, ITA Secure Messaging Appliances, ITA Mail Archive appliance including free online Tools and utilities for IT Administrators. Online tools such as Open Relay Test, WHOIS lookup, Email Valuator, DNS Lookup will help you troubleshoot and secure your mail server.
What you’ll have to do simply installed, Anti-Spam software in your machine to divert the spam e-mails coming to your mail box. When you installed anti spam software in the mail server, then you will never receive any unwanted mail, to begin with anti spam software.
If you want to take free trial & want to download all these anti spam products then visit http://www.itanetworks.com

Sachin Gupta offering ideas on the use of Anti Spam Products with the help of http://www.itanetworks.com

Avoiding Becoming An SB Site Spammer

MAKING SURE YOU DON'T SPAM

Social bookmarking offers you a lot of freedom, and can help you drive traffic to your website overnight. Still, abusing this freedom can lower the credibility of your business, your brand, and your company name. Moving beyond the potential for spamming will help you to build a strong and regular community, instead of being booted off a social bookmarking network.

It's important to review your submissions to make sure you're not overusing keywords. Keyword overuse is a turnoff for readers anyway, and you should aim for a keyword density between 6-8% at the maximum level. Most readers will easily pick up on articles that simply do not make sense, and this will limit your ability to promote quality work. Instead of focusing exclusively on SEO, create something unique with an attractive headline instead.

Google and Yahoo! are also becoming vigilant about catching spam-type articles and you will lower your chances of indexing as a result. The most important factors for indexing by Google include:

" Publishing content that is relevant to the heading or topic " Quality formatting " Appropriate links and references " Appropriate amount of keywords

Reading all terms of use and guidelines will ensure that you can make the most of your participation, and grow with your community so you are developing a strong presence.

Avoiding Becoming A Spammer If You're Using Duplicate Content.

Duplicate content makes it easier for you to write about your topic of choice, giving you a pre-researched format and guideline. Still, it's important to make many changes to the article, and obtain permission rights from the author when necessary. A single sentence or paragraph that is copied word for word can be detrimental to your search engine placement, and may even lead to copyright infringement.

THE SOFTWARE QUESTION: TO BUY, OR NOT TO BUY

You'll find a variety of submission directory software packages and applications available on the web today, but it's important to review the risks involved with using an automated service. Since many of these can be blocked by spam filters, the efforts may not be worth your time. These software packages are designed to submit your content and information on multiple sites in one simple step.

Some social bookmarking submission software packages are designed to be compatible with multiple websites, but you may find that some of your content simply becomes pushed onto spamming sites and bogs. This is why submitting to quality directories and sites is even more important today. Automation does not necessarily guarantee quality, and only you can make the decision on whether this is appropriate for your business, your blog, or your website.

Still, you may find some value in free sites such as Socializer 2.0. Socializer is free web service from eKstreme.com that allows you submit one link to several social bookmarking websites by adding some code to your site. The company has also developed customizable Wordpress and Movable Type plugins and you can find instructions on downloading this information directly from the website.

The Advantages of Bayesian Spam Filters

Bayesian Spam Filters work by analyzing and calculating the probability of the contents in the email being spam, and self-building a list of characteristics of both spam and good elements in the message. Its advantage is it is trained on a per-user basis.

Bayesian spam filtering technique is a great way of filtering out the spam from reaching your inbox. M. Sahami, S. Dumais, D. Heckerman, and E. Horvitz proposed this technique in "A Bayesian approach to filtering junk e-mail" in 1998, but until it was described in a paper by Paul Graham, in 2002, it gained no attention. Thereafter, it has become a great technique for distinguishing legitimate email from the illegitimate spam mail. Modern email programs use the Bayesian spam filtering techniques, and so do the server-side email filters, which at times, embed the function of the Bayesian spam filters within the mail server software itself.

The Bayesian spam filter works by analyzing and then calculating the probability of the contents in the email being spam. It self-builds a list of characteristics of spam as well as good elements in the message. Based on the analysis, the message is classified as spam or legitimate. After the message has been classified, the spam filter is further trained on a per-user basis. This is the advantage of Bayesian spam filters.

Most spam one receives is more often than not related to one's activities online. You may have subscribed to an online newsletter, which could be considered as spam. This newsletter, like other newsletters from the same source, is likely to contain common words, such as its name and its email address, from where it originated. Your Bayesian spam filter will analyze the contents, identify the characteristics, and assign a higher rate of probability to its being spam. All this is based on your specific user activity.

Legitimate emails you receive are different from the spam, and the Bayesian spam filter will assign a lower rate of probability of its being spam. In an environment where you receive corporate emails from the same source, the mails will have the same company name, and the names of the clients or customers. These will be analyzed as legitimate by your Bayesian spam filter.

The Bayesian spam filter's accuracy improves over time. It analyzes the characteristics that allow it to assess the probability, and whenever the filter incorrectly classifies a message, its corrective training takes over. The probability of each word is unique to each individual user.

The Bayesian spam filter is exceptional in avoiding false positives. If the email you receive contains the words 'Nigeria' or 'lottery', which have frequently been seen in spam messages, your Bayesian spam filter would probably put it down as a probable, and not reject it outright, as a normal spam filter might. It would look for other characteristics to classify the message. If the mail happens to be from your spouse, it would indicate its legitimacy, and your Bayesian spam filter would overcome the probable spam words.

Author is admin and technical expert associated with development of computer security and performance enhancing software like Registry Cleaner, Anti Spyware, Window Cleaner. Learn how Anti Spam filter helps in securing online privacy. Visit our Home page or Resource Center.

Bayesian Spam Filters - How Do They Work?

Bayesian spam filters, which are a type of scoring content-based spam filters, analyze the contents of the mail, and calculate the probability of the message being spam.

Bayesian spam filters, which are a type of scoring content-based spam filters, analyze the contents of the mail, and calculate the probability of the message being spam. It builds up a list of characteristics of elements that are typically spam as well as good emails. The advantage of the Bayesian spam filters is that they build up the list of characteristics themselves, and do not depend on the manually built list.

Bayesian spam filters more or less try to emulate how you personally identify your spam emails. One look at an email tells you whether the email is genuine or spam. The probability that you will characterize a good mail as spam is 'zero'. Ideally, it would be great if spam filters do work in the same way. At least, the Bayesian spam filters are trying in this direction.

Spam Filtering

Suppose that the word 'textile' often appears in your legitimate mails, but never in your spam mails, then there is zero probability of the word 'textile' indicating spam. On the other hand, the words 'Nigeria' and 'lottery' quite often and at times most exclusively, appear as spams - made famous by the 419 scams out of Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa.

For Bayesian spam filters, these two words 'Nigeria' and 'lottery' have every probability of being found in spam emails - as much as 100 percent.

Whenever you receive a new message, the Bayesian spam filter analyzes it, and calculates, by using the individual characteristics, the probability of it being a spam. If it so happens that your message contains both words, 'textiles' and 'Nigeria' or 'lottery', the Bayesian spam filter cannot ascertain whether the message is a genuine one or a spam. It will further analyze other characteristics that will allow it to assess the probability of classifying the message as either, spam or legitimate.

Bayesian Spam Filters - Adapting Automatically

Once you have classified the message, as shown above, it can be used to further train the spam filter. This is how it works. In the above scenario:

• If the message is analyzed as being spam, then the probability of the word 'textile' indicating legitimate mail is lessened.
• If the message is analyzed as being legitimate mail, then the probability of the words, 'Nigeria' or 'lottery' - whichever was used - needs to be re-analyzed and re-considered as spam.

The advantage of Bayesian spam filters is that they self adapt by learning from their own decisions, as well as the user's decisions - if made manually. This automatic adaptability of the Bayesian spam filters is excellent for individual email users. Most spam emails have very similar and at times identical characteristics, whereas the characteristics of legitimate mails are different for each individual.

Author is admin and technical expert associated with development of security and performance enhancing software like Registry Cleaner, Anti Spyware, Window Cleaner. Learn how Anti Spam filter helps in securing online privacy. Visit our Home page or Resource Center to read more about products.

The Basics Of Bayesian Spam Filtering

Bayesian spam filtering is a way to distinguish between legitimate emails and illegitimate spam emails, through a process that uses Bayesian statistical methods.

Bayesian spam filtering has become a popular way to distinguish between legitimate emails and illegitimate spam emails, through a process that uses Bayesian statistical methods. It filters emails by classifying documents into categories. Based on the contents of the message in your email, the Bayesian spam filters calculate the probability of the message being a spam. They are much more robust than the normal content based filters, and their anti spam approach hardly has false positives.

Normally when you receive an email, one look tells you whether the email is a spam or not. To your eyes, there is 'zero' probability of a spam looking like a good email. How would it be if spam filters, too, worked in the same way!

Bayesian Spam Filters

Bayesian spam filters are what are known as scoring content-based spam filters. They try to work the way your eye does in identifying spam emails, by looking for words and other characteristics that typify spams. Every characteristic typical of spam is assigned a score, and the total spam score for the whole message is computed. Depending on the type of Bayesian spam filter you are using, it may also look for legitimate email characteristics, thereby lowering the total score.

The basic difference between the Bayesian spam filters and other simple scoring content based spam filters is that the Bayesian spam filters build the list themselves, as against other filters that depend on a manually built list of characteristics.

You start with a sizable bunch of emails you have identified as spam, and another bunch of good emails. The filters look at both, the legitimate and the spam emails and calculate in what probability various characters appear in them. Bayesian spam filters may look at:

• The words in the message body
• The headers (message paths and senders)
• The word pairs and phrases
• HTML code, such as colors
• Where a particular phrase appears (meta information)

The Problems With Scoring Content Based Filters

Though the scoring based spam filters work well, they also encounter certain problems; the normal ones more so than the Bayesian spam filters. These are some of the problems faced:

• The scoring content based spam filters build a list of characteristics from the spam emails and the good emails they get. For building a good list of spam characteristics, mail needs to be collected from hundreds of sources (email addresses). This may weaken the efficiency of the spam filters, as the characteristics of the good email would be different for each person.
• If the spammers make an effort to make their mails look like genuine mails, the filtering characteristics may have to be corrected manually - a very big effort.

Author is admin and technical expert associated with development of security and performance enhancing software like Registry Cleaner, Anti Spyware, Window Cleaner. Learn how Anti Spam filter helps in securing online privacy. Visit our Home page or Resource Center to read more about products.

What Are The Chances Of Spammers Getting Past Bayesian Spam Filters?

The spammers are likely to get past the Bayesian spam filters if they make their spam emails look identical to the ordinary mails everyone gets.

Bayesian spam filters work by analyzing the contents of the email, and then calculating the probability of the message being spam. They analyze the characteristics of both, the legitimate mails as well as the spam mails. For the Bayesian spam filtering process, both, the characteristics of the legitimate mails as well as the spam mails are equally important. As it analyzes the mails, it keeps on building up a list of genuine as well as spam characteristics.

Once you have analyzed and classified the message as genuine or spam, it can be used to train the spam filters. Spammers would have a real bad time if spam filters can be specifically trained for individual users. They would have a hard time hoodwinking most people's spam filters, and the spam filters would have the ability to adapt to whatever the spammers would try.

What Can The Spammers Try

The only reason why an email is a spam is that it is significantly different from the regular and legitimate email. The spammers are likely to succeed and get past the Bayesian spam filters if they make their spam emails look identical to the ordinary mails everyone gets. They probably have the wherewithal to do it today. But spammers are not there to send ordinary looking emails, and the ordinary looking emails are the only way to get past the anti spam filters, such as the Bayesian spam filters.

Ordinary looking emails do not work for spammers as their aim is to make money. They send emails to hundreds of thousands of people and at a miniscule cost to them - and if only a fraction of the recipients respond, they have got it made. If they do decide to switch to ordinary looking mails to get past the Bayesian spam filters, we would be receiving much more spam in our inboxes every day, just as we used to before the Bayesian spam filters came into play. But it will not work for them - commercially.

There is one thing they can try, though, to get past the Bayesian spam filters. The basis of the Bayesian spam filters is that if one word appears very frequently in a legitimate mail, it is so significant that it can make any message appear to be genuine, even if it happens to be spam.

The spammers now need to find a way to find out those good email words to hit the bulls-eye. They can do this by using HTML return receipts to see the messages you opened, and can include one of them in the spam message to get it past the Bayesian spam filter. Such things are time consuming and HTML return receipts do not always work.

Author is admin and technical expert associated with development of security and performance enhancing software like Registry Cleaner, Anti Spyware, Window Cleaner. Learn how Anti Spam filter helps in securing online privacy. Visit our Home page.

Spam – the facts and figures

Spam is the result of the activities of a small number of people; however these activities are becoming a big problem for Internet users. Spammers are flooding the Internet with messages and making it increasing difficult to get on with our daily tasks and work, which involves the Internet.

Spammers are not only attacking our inbox they have also started to turn on anti-spam sites. They have started to send out spam emails using the anti-spammers names, email addresses and website addresses within their spam messages. This is known as a ‘Joe-job.’ The reason as to why spammers do this is to cause trouble for the people who are fighting them and trying to stop them sending out spam messages.

There are two main forms of spam present on the Internet. The one is what we all already know about, email spam, which targets individual users with direct mail messages and steals Internet mailing lists as well as searching the web for email addresses that spammers can add to their spam lists.

The second popular form of spam on the Internet is not so well known. This comes in the form of Usenet spam. This is a single message that is sent to around 20 users of Usenet newsgroups. However through experience Usenet users have grown to ignore such messages as they have found that a message posted to so many newsgroups is often not relevant. These messages are aimed at ‘lurker’s,’ people who read newsgroups but never post in them or rarely post in them. By doing this spammers are robbing the user’s utility of the newsgroup as it will be overwhelmed with adverts and irrelevant posts.

The submission of the name "Spam" to unwanted posts and communication originates in Chat-rooms. It was first seen in the chat-rooms of People-Link in the early 1980’s as a way of getting rid of unwanted "newcomers." When someone would enter a chat-room full of friends who were in mid-conversation, and tried to turn the conversation in an unwelcome direction, two veteran members of the room would begin typing in the Monty Python "Spam" routine at high speed. They would fill the screen with "Spam Spam Spam eggs Spam Spam and Spam" etc, and make all other communication impossible. The other members of the room would just wait until the newcomer moved on to a different room.

Email, newsgroup and chat room spam is a globally growing problem with the countries that spread the most spam globally being the USA (28.4%), South Korea (5.2%), China (4.9%) and Russia (4.4%).

There has previously been pressure to make email spam illegal and it has been successful in certain jurisdictions but not in all meaning that spammers merely take advantage of this fact and post more spam to places where they won’t get in trouble for doing so.

Anti spammers want to see this pressure to make spam illegal more often as spam can not only waste many production hours and be really aggravating; it can also lead to criminal activity in the sense that spammers have to potential to spread computer viruses such as Trojan horses and other malicious software. There objective for doing this may well be identity theft meaning that action needs to taken against spammers and it needs to be taken now.

Helen is the web master of MySpamBin, specialists in Anti Spam Blocker software. Please feel free to republish this article providing this resource box remains intact with a working hyperlink to our site.

Warring On Spam through Bayesian Spam Filters

Bayesian Spam Filters war on spam through the following methods: email is assessed on the probability of it being either spam or legitimate; it builds its own list of characteristics; keeps on updating its list, learning from its mistakes, thereby increasing its accuracy.

Email spam has become a normal part of our lives. One just cannot use email without receiving unwanted emails in large numbers. Over the years, various methods have been utilized to eliminate this problem, such as keyword-based filters, source blacklists, signature blacklists, source verification - singly and in various combinations - but spammers have always succeeded in staying ahead of such technologies. Moreover, some of the methods have had their own shortcomings. The keyword filters are not very accurate, and along with the blacklists, need to be constantly updated.

Then 2002 saw a new technology come on the horizon that gave hope. Though first proposed by M. Sahami, S. Dumais, D. Heckerman, and E. Horvitz in "A Bayesian approach to filtering junk e-mail" in 1998, it caught everyone's attention after a paper by Paul Graham in 2002. Bayesian spam filtering technology gave hope of inboxes that could be spam free. In very simple terms, this technology is based on Bayesian statistical methods where an email is assessed on the probability of its being either spam or legitimate.

Its Advantages

The Bayesian spam filter can be trained by an individual user, who categorizes each email as either spam or not spam. After a few categorizations, the Bayesian filter starts to make categorizations on its own, and quite accurately. This is the plus point of the system. If the filter happens to make a mistake, you re-categorize the mail, and the filter learns from it, further increasing its accuracy. It is very simple to use and does not require complicated instructions.

Bayesian spam filters are quite effective. The filter, once well trained, has a high success rate of eliminating incoming spam, and a very low false positive rate. Most spam emails may look the same, and have very similar characteristics; where as the characteristics of legitimate emails received by different individuals are very wide. The Bayesian spam filter builds its own list of characteristics of spam as well as legitimate elements in the message. It keeps on updating its list, learning from its mistakes, thereby increasing its accuracy.

Based on this basic technology, there are several software packages available to select from. If you are looking to install a Bayesian spam filter, look to see the following features:

• It should support different operating systems
• It should support POP3 proxying
• Should be easy to install and have an easy way to categorize

When picking software ensure that the filter accurately classifies the email. As Bayesian have to be trained, select the one that are easier to train. Some are easier to train than others. Training is done by coming in contact with both legitimate as well as spam mail - not a very pleasant thought.

Author is admin and technical expert associated with development of computer security and performance enhancing software like Registry Cleaner, Anti Spyware, Window Cleaner. Learn how Anti Spam filter helps in securing online privacy. Visit our Home page or Resource Center.

It's Open Phishing Season Again

The online scam technique known as "phishing" is not new. Phishing has plagued Internet users for several years now, but its effectiveness has caused the practice to grow to record levels among online criminals. "Phishing" describes a combination of techniques used by cyber crooks to bait people into revealing sensitive personal data such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, bank account numbers, dates of birth and more. Their techniques work so well that FraudWatchInternational.com devotes entire sections of its website just to combating online "phishing" scams.

Here's the basic pattern for a "phishing" scam. You receive a very official email that appears to originate from a legitimate source, such as your bank, eBay, PayPal, major retailer or some other well known entity. In the email it tells you that something bad is about to happen unless you act quickly. Typically it tells you that your account is about to get closed, that someone appears to have stolen your identity, or even that someone opened a fraudulent account using your name. In order to help straighten everything out, you need to click a link in the email and provide some basic account details so they can verify your identity and give you additional information.

After getting your information, these cyber-bandits can empty your bank accounts, deplete your PayPal account, run up your credit cards, open new credit accounts, assume your identity, and much worse.

"Phishing" scams work extremely well for 2 basic reasons. First, by exploiting your sense of urgency created by fear, they get you to click their link and give them your information without thinking. Second, the scammers use a variety of cloaking and spoofing techniques to make their emails and websites appear totally legitimate, making it extremely hard to spot a fake.

You can protect yourself relatively easily against this type of cyber-crime with basic software and common sense. Most of these scams get delivered to you via Spam (unsolicited email), so a good spam blocker will cut down on receiving these emails in the first place. Also, understand that your bank, credit card company, PayPal, eBay and anyone else you deal with online will never ask for your account #, username, etc. (they already have that). NEVER respond to email requests for account or personal details.

Never click the link provided in the email, but go directly to the website by typing in the main URL of the site yourself (example: www.paypal.com or www.ebay.com). Forward the email to the main email address of the website (example: support@paypal.com) or call the customer service number on the main website you typed in and ask if it is in fact legitimate. Verify all phone numbers with a phone book before calling. Finally, activate the phishing filters in your Internet Explorer 7 or FireFox web browser to help spot potential security problems.

Above all, if you receive an urgent email that looks legitimate and you want to respond, stop - wait - and think! Phishing scammers count on you acting with haste and making a mistake.

Copyright (c) 2008 Jim Edwards

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Help Stop Phishing and Pharming

Technology has brought along with it some criminals too who have found many crooked ways to use the internet to deceive people. They do this by robbing them of their identity and their life savings too. Most people begin to react to phishing attacks slowly as they get completely devastated to find that they have lost everything they have got. This is why even though it may be difficult for most to handle phishing attacks at least we must be aware of how to stop phishing.To stop phishing it is important that users report these phishing attacks to government agencies, banks and credit card companies. It is only when we report of such phishing emails to the respective banks, credit card companies etc that they will be aware that such fraudulent emails are making the rounds and they will quickly alert all their clients thus saving many innocent people from losing their money.If you have been a victim of a phishing fraud, make sure that you have all the bank accounts in question closed immediately and inform your banks and credit card companies about your having been deceived into revealing all personal particulars. This is one of the best ways to stop phishing at its source itself.Another way by which you can stop phishing is by installing anti phishing software in your system so that the software prevents any kind of fraud by scrutinising all the emails coming into your box and alerts you in case there is a suspicious email trying to phish. Once you are alerted, do not on any account open such emails.Make sure you have an effective anti phishing software installed on your system, which will immediately alert you in case of suspicion. There are spyware programs that effectively detect scam mails and send them to junk.Most of these phishing emails always play on your sentiments like your having won a lottery ticket etc. You will be naturally thrilled about this and would not think before you unwittingly provide all your personal information and financial information. If you have any suspicion immediately, inform any of the following groups. To stop phishing send the email you have received to the Internet Fraud Complaint centre of the FBI by filing a complaint on their website. You can also report to anti phishing groups. You can find the email addresses of anti phishing groups on the internet.

Allan Wilson owns and operates http://www.prevent-phishing.com where you can learn of various ways to prevent phishing. Prevent Phishing

Using your Spam Filter

Spam emails are one of the main annoyances to Internet users. Anyone who has an email address and is an internet user has more than likely experienced spam at some point. The more you use the Internet and the more chat based web sites that you have interacted with as well as the more you have filled in online forms using your email address, the more spam that you are likely to receive.

The most common use of a spam filter is for the removal of spam and computer viruses. Another less common use of a spam filter is to inspect outgoing emails to ensure that companies comply with appropriate laws.

Most of the email programmes that are available today have some form of a spam filter already available within them. This automated spam filtering function can be set to a certain level depending on how much spam you receive. Spam filters were created in an attempt to limit and control the ever growing problem of spam.

These spam filters make filtering decisions based on matching regular expression within spam emails or the keywords within an email message will be checked as well as scanning the email address of the sender to see if they are regular senders of spam messages.

One of the main problems that people tend to experience when it comes to spam filtering software is that messages that they actually want to receive end up getting filtered. You have to be careful when it comes to spam filtering so that this doesn’t happen.

As spam filter setting are having to become more strict due to the increase in spam emails you need to make sure that you no what not to include in your email message to ensure that it doesn’t get filtered out as spam. Below are a list of the common features of email messages that are blocked by most spam filters:

• If the email has three or more CAPITALIZED words in the Subject line or has no text within the subject line
• Subject starts with Hello, Free or GUARANTEED etc
• Subject line starts with Buy or Buying
• The email contains blank lines that make up a percentage of more than 70
• Repeated, unnecessary double-quotation marks
• The body of the email message mentions Viagra, no prescription, online Pharmacy etc
• There are attempts to disguise words within the email
• From field and reply to are empty
• Subject (or other fields) contains G.a.p.p.y-T.e.x.t with lots of spaces or underscores etc
• Subject starts with dollar sign or amount
• Address contains "free"
• Email contains an executable EXE BAT PIF etc (or DAT file Email sent from Apple Mac to PC issue)
• Message is a saved web page
• Font colour is the same as the background (invisible text)

If you are attempting to send an email you need to ensure that your email message doesn’t contain any of the above.

Spam filter software is the best way of conquering the problem of spam, no other method will compare to the results that you will see and the positive affects of spam filtering completely outweigh the negative.

Helen is the web master of MySpamBin, home of all your Spam Filtering needs.

Helen is the web master of MySpamBin, home of all your Spam Filtering needs.

Help to reduce Spam

Since the introduction of the Internet to the public, spam has been in existence and has become more and more of a growing concern and problem. Everyone who uses the Internet, especially with an email account has probably experienced a form of spam. I don’t actually think it is possible anymore to have a email account where no spam is received without the help of a spam filter.

The problem of spam on the Internet has reached a sorry state of affairs and drastic action is needed before the situation escalades even further. By just changing a few Internet ‘habits’ you could prevent a certain amount of spam from reaching your inbox.

For many of us Internet use is part of our daily lives. Many of us work in an environment where using email and the Internet is part of our job description. Due to this it is important that you follow some ‘guidelines’ of how to use the Internet and especially email without opening yourself up to the chance of receiving more spam.

These ‘guidelines’ should include the following:

Use more than one email account Many of us find the need to regularly post in forums and newsgroups etc. This is a problem straight away as putting your email address anywhere on the Internet means the likelihood of it becoming flooded with spam is extremely high. If you do need to use your email address on the Internet you should set up numerous email accounts to stop your actual main email account from being overload with spam.

It is suggested that you set up an email account for use of friends and family as well as being the mail account that you use for your msn. This email account will probably be classed as your main email account. You should then set up another account for use at work to ensure that your work email account doesn’t get loaded with spam messages, meaning you can easily access the emails that you need direct access to. Also if you shop regularly online why not set one up primarily for your shopping needs.

Never make contact with a spammer When you start to receive spam emails a spammer will look for signs that your email account is active, meaning that you use it on a regular basis. There are certain actions that you take that demonstrate to a spammer that your account is being used. If you reply to a spammer stating that you do not wish to receive any more emails or if you ‘unsubscribe’ all you are doing is giving a spammer more fuel to send you emails. You should never make contact with a spammer, they don’t care if you want to unsubscribe they will just spam you more as you have read their email, which brings me to my next point don’t even open an email message off a spammer, if they think for a second that you are reading the emails that they send you, you will simply get sent more.

Another point to be aware of when it comes to bulk mail is the use of viruses. 65% of unwanted emails contain a virus emphasising the fact that you should never open attachments from email addresses that you don’t know. Due to this growing number of computer viruses due to unsolicited mail it is important that, if you don’t already have one, you install an anti-virus on your computer and regularly keep it updated.

Helen is the web master of MySpamBin, specialists in all of your Spam Blocker needs.

How to find free adware and spyware remover?

Ever downloaded something from the web and the next thing that happens, you notice something goes wrong with the computer? When something like this happens, there is a very big chance that the system has been infiltrated by a spyware or adware.
Spyware are programs designed to send certain information back to the programmer. This may include bank account numbers, credit card numbers and anything else important. Someone can use this to buy items without the owner really knowing until the bill comes which is already too late to do almost anything.
Adware on the other hand will show pop up ads that are really quite annoying even if the person did not log into that site. It might inform the user there is a virus in the computer even if there is none and those who click on it will get it thus causing more problems.
Having a software program that can fight against spyware and adware will help prevent damage from happening to the computer. Here are the top 5 software programs for the person to use so the user can judge which one is the best.
1 One good software is Ewido designed by the Grisoft Group. It can handle spyware and adware as well as other threats such as Trojans, dialers, worms and keylogger.
2 McAfee has been in the business of providing security solutions since 1987. The software programs it offers can take care of viruses, spyware, adware and any other threats all in just one package. Among the different software companies in the industry, this firm does not allow free trials but those who have used it and are still doing so today are satisfied with its products and services.
3. Another leader in the industry is Symantec. This company started 5 years earlier than McAfee and offers customers various versions of its products. Those who are skeptic about the adware and spyware software it has can download the software and try it for 30 days. Those who amazed can then buy the program to continue enjoying its services.
4. The fourth company on the list is not so big but is still able to hold its head up high in the market. The program is called Spybot Search and Destroy. From the name itself, the individual can already tell what it can do as well as prevent new threats from ever popping up in the future.
5. Lastly, is Adaware, which also has various versions for personal and commercial use. Those who will just use it to keep the computer safe at home can download the adware spyware remover program for free. If this will be used by a company to protect its assets, a fee will be charged to keep the system running.
The person does not have to be a computer expert to be able to protect everything inside the computer because there are all kinds of adware spyware remover programs available. In these days,there are more and more software programs available online that offer you free scanning and removal of spyware from your PC. You can choose from a variety of legitimate programs that will be able to effectively do the job for you and for free. But most of the times, these free online spyware scanning and removal tools may not be able to provide you with the full protection that you need. You may need to purchase a spyware and adware removal software that may be able to provide you with the most comprehensive spyware protection that you need.

Sunny Sun is the owner of http://www.adwarespywareremoverinfo.com/. This site provides comprehensive information on how to remove adware and spyware.

Spam! Is It Really Different Then Permission Email Marketing?

Have you ever heard of spam? Of course you have, we all get it and we all delete it. It can be annoying, but the truth is that it does work. The more emails that go out the better the return. However, for us average marketers permission based emailing can be more effective because it can generate leads that are much more responsive.

The average person gets over 300 email a week, and about 60 percent of them are spam! So if you are an email marketer what can you do? One solution is through permission based email marketing.

What does effective permission email marketing involve? First you must get the permission of the customer. You can do this by using a double opt in technique which requires them to click on a link in an email which is sent to them right after they complete a registration form. This means that the recipient has expressed an interest in receiving emails from you, the sender. Of course the subscriber is also given the opportunity to unsubscribe at anytime.

The purpose of permission email marketing should be to create interest and a desire for your product or services. It is still one of the most cost effective ways to contact current customers and to convince prospects to become customers. When done correctly, permission based email marketing can be one of your most effective free advertising techniques.

TIP: Provide value and your prospects will be more likely to check out a few of your advertisements.

So, what is the difference between spam and permission based emails?

Permission email marketing involves only sending emails to people who have requested to receive them. Implementing a successful permission email marketing campaign should not be difficult, but what may not be easy is consistently doing what needs to be done every day!

Spam is never helpful and rarely has any value. Sending spam will never have any positive impact on any legitimate business. But, permission email marketing is all about turning those we do not know into friends and then those friends into customers. By focusing on prospects who are really interested in your offer you have a much better chance of turning them into customers.

TIP: Your prospects may respond to your emails if your message relates to their interests.

What might compel a reader to open your email?

1. The from field. Make sure your company name is clearly visible in the from field, and you should not use it for anything else.

2. The subject line. The most compelling subject lines contain discount offers, interesting news, and free offers.

Some key assumptions with which you should approach every email marketing campaign are:

- You will need to send out multiple email messages over a fixed period of time to get any results. You can then test various messages. Remember that it is all about numbers and percentages. One day a prospect will ignore your email and the next day open it and purchase your product or service.

I'm Guilty Until Proven Innocent

No doubt about it.

"Spam" (unsolicited commercial email) threatens to paralyze and ultimately destroy the email system as it currently exists on the Internet.

Anyone with an email address can attest to the fact that the avalanche of Spam has only increased in the last year and shows no sign of stopping.

However, the current system many Internet Service Providers (ISP's) use to deal with Spam may just destroy the Internet's email system long before the spammers do.

Now, I won't deny that the weight of the Spam on any ISP's resources can rate very significant.

It's been estimated that between 30-60% of all email now sent is Spam!

This means that 30-60% and ISP's system resources (bandwidth, hardware, and system maintenance) go towards delivering messages nobody wants to receive.

Out of self-defense, many ISP's turn to third party services like Spam Cop, SPEWS (Spam Prevention Early Warning System), and SpamHaus to help them identify sources of spam and block the messages before their email systems get clogged.

No Trial - No Defense - Guilty!

In theory, it's a great system.

In practice, it creates a situation resembling a witch hunt where the accused gets burned at the stake without a trial, let alone the ability to face their accuser. Here's how the system works.

Let's say a business habitually sends legitimate email to its customers or prospects who asked to receive the email.

As long as nobody complains, life proceeds as normal.

But then let's say one of those people forgets they opted in to the business's email list and reports an email message as spam to one of the services I mentioned above.

Result: the business gets blacklisted by one or more of these services and ISP's in turn automatically block email (legitimate email) sent by the business to its customers and opt-in subscribers.

To make matters even worse, nobody at these anti-spam services bothers to let the business know they've been blacklisted.

When the business finally discovers their status and tries to contact Spam Cop, SPEWS or SpamHaus, the real fun begins.

If the business does discover which service(s) blacklisted them, they'll find they can't call anyone on the phone to discuss the problem.

They also discover these services are totally unregulated and there is no higher court of appeals.

Any email responses from these services often contain a smug attitude of assumed guilt that scoffs at your claims of innocence.

Also, don't bother asking for the opportunity to face your accuser in order to prove your innocence because they get to hide behind a cloak of anonymity.

Combining this attitude of assumed guilt with the inability to prove your innocence creates a recipe for disaster for every legitimate business.

Oh, by the way, while writing this article, I received 19 spam email messages through an ISP monitored by all 3 anti-spam services.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

In the end, the current system only creates opportunity for abuse that targets legitimate businesses while the real spammers just merrily keep sending their flood of email.

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