Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?

21 Nov 06 - 03:34 PM (#1890136)
Subject: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: Gulliver

I've read up on previous threads where this has been discussed and just wonder what the latest info is on cutting down on spam.

On my home computer (Windows ME) I've got two email addresses, one of which I've had for years and receives lots of spam, so I delete most of it in Outlook (my junk senders list is in the thousands), but it's still annoying to do this and sometimes I inadvertently delete valid emails. My other email address I give out only to folks I know and doesn't appear anywhere on the Web--it has remained free of spam (so far!).

My concern is for computers (XP) I maintain for a library. The library email address has to be available all over the place, and altough I coded (obscured) it in the library website, spam is beginning to flood in. We feel that even if an email looks like spam, it should be opened because it COULD be genuine.

The recommended anti-spam programs were G-Lock and Thunderbird. Can anyone recommend them, or is there anything new out there that might help?

adTHANKSvance, Don

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21 Nov 06 - 03:47 PM (#1890143)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: Grab

Spambayes worked pretty well for me, when I was badly snowed under by spam. It takes a month or two to train the filter up, but it works pretty well once it's trained.

Graham.

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21 Nov 06 - 03:56 PM (#1890149)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: NH Dave

Mozilla's Thunderbird uses a heuristic Spam filter, which means that it learns as you delete Spam from the In Box, and will delete Spam from the same address by itself the next time it comes in.

And of course, the program is free, which works as well.

Dave

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21 Nov 06 - 04:09 PM (#1890171)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: elfcape

My ISP uses something called Spamnabber. I receive about 300 pieces of spam every day but only about 5 of them make it through their filter system.

They must know something useful.

www.cape.com

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21 Nov 06 - 04:34 PM (#1890194)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: Amos

As I've mentioned before, there is a two-step rule which will move 98% of your Spam to Junk Mail. The rule needs to state that a piece of mail which is in HTML Format, and whose sender is not in your address book, gets moved to Junk.

You still need to review Junk for mail fom new correspondents, or old ones using different addresses. But this is rare, at least for a personal mail system. for the library, where you expect mail from strangers, it would be less effective but it is still true that they have little need or probability of sending mail in HTML format.

A

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21 Nov 06 - 04:39 PM (#1890199)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: MMario

They have little need of sending in HTML format but it is the DEFAULT for many mail systems.

Drives me nuts (short trip!) how many people send e-mails cluttered with all sorts of html stuff and there message is something along the lines of "Hi - How are ya!" (plus a background, flashing lights, moving text, letterhead etc, etc, etc)

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21 Nov 06 - 05:01 PM (#1890218)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: Don Firth

My internet service provider is Earthlink, and I've opted for their "Spamblocker."

It seems to work pretty well. If an e-mail comes from someone who's in my address book, it pops right through to my in-box. If not, it goes into a "Suspect E-Mail" folder. I usually about five or six messages a day, once as high as fourteen. I can then look them over and move the legit ones into my in-box (and add them to my address book if I want), and quickly zap the rest (lots of cheap meds, ersatz Rolex watches, and offers for low-interest loans). Then, there is a "Known Spam" folder, and I don't even have to mess with that. If I'm curious and click on the folder, it shows me a graph for the past two weeks. On November 8th, it grabbed and slew over 350 messages, and today it ambushed 216.

Works for me.

Don Firth

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21 Nov 06 - 05:33 PM (#1890240)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: JohnInKansas

Especially for your library computers you should "bone up" on what the legal situation is for your location. Some legislatures have been attempting to "help," and the situation is somewhat different depending on where you are. (Google spam law your country/state perhaps.)

Just remember that the standard definition of FUBAR is "a SNAFU that receives management (legislative) assistance."

WinXP, if kept updated and with a couple of the "add ons" invoked, does include some spam and malware blocking features that are not too intrusive, and seem to be of some help. The "Windows Defender" thing does appear to help, but it requires verification of your licenses - and it's still for now at, or just coming from, "beta" support status. You probably won't want to rely entirely on it alone, but it may (or may not) help, depending on what else you use. It's probably more use to catch/remove the most critical malware crud than just as a SPAM blocker.

Although email as a source of real crimeware seems to be less in favor than in the past, most of the same kinds of crap that your library patrons can (innocently?) put on your system still can come from SPAM. A system like a library can spread something to lots of people unless general malware defenses are better than average. It probably would be well to consider a good "server quality" commercial protection suite there, for SPAM and all the other kinds of "annoyances." (It won't be free.)

How bleak the situation is? Spam Never Dies (Just to lighten your day).

(The page linked had a minor "page defect" a few hours ago. I've sent a "piss on you" note to the webmeisters. It shouldn't interfere too much with reading enough to get the point.)

Your own WinME can probably limp along if necessary and if you're careful, but WinME (and of coure Win98) are "out of support" and will not be able to close new holes as the crimeware people find and exploit them. Be warned that vulnerability will not ever be reduced there. Even Win2K is rapidly approaching "unsupported" status. Eventually you'll probably be forced to get a newer system.

If you are "personally involved" with your library machines, and especially if the library might be interested in a "high hor$epower" fix, you might(?) find some help at ZD White Papers Library. The "white papers" border on blatent advertising in many cases, but wading through that kind of crud is largely how one finds out what's going on, what's available, and what it can (and can't) do. (They may ask you to register. I probably have a cookie from them, so I can't tell if they look before they open.)

Sorry I can't make any personal recommendation of a program that will solve all your problems.

John

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21 Nov 06 - 06:01 PM (#1890264)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: GUEST,Dale

My ISP uses Postini to grab the vast majority of Spam before it even gets to my inbox. Right now there are 113 messages that are quarantined at their site. Until just now I had not looked at it since Sunday night when I dumped the lot that had previously accumulated, so you can see that I do get a ton of junk.

I can look at it freely if I choose, but mostly I give it a quick scan. I have it set for aggressive setting. In the beginning a few messages failed to make it past their rules, but a manual add to to approved list fixes that sender from that point on. I haven't seen a message that I thought ought to have come through in maybe a year. I have manually added a few irritating senders that managed to get through. That fixed their wagon but good.

They give extra notice if a virus is included in any of the mail they stop. Not one single virus laden message has gotten through since they started using Postini.

If I happen not to check it, it is automatically dumped ever so often. I usually try to check maybe three times a week. I suppose I ought to let it go a week at a time so I can see exactly how much good it is doing me.

How many get through to my inbox? Most days none. MAYBE a half dozen per week.

I have a couple of hotmail accounts. The one I give never give out never has spam. Of course, it doesn't get used for good stuff much either, does it?

Back to the subject. POSTINI I recommend it, but it is an ISP decision, not the individuals.

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21 Nov 06 - 11:12 PM (#1890456)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: Stilly River Sage

I haven't used it but there is a spam program associated with the Eudora email program I use. Like Don, I use Earthlink's spam filter. If you look into commercial programs you will find Brightmail and Window Washer.

SRS

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22 Nov 06 - 05:02 AM (#1890549)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: rich-joy

I've just signed up to an Australian Govt download called "Spam Matters" where you can report each annoying little bastard - hopefully something will come of it ... anyway, it makes me feel better!!!
LOL!

http://www.acma.gov.au/ACMAINTER.1310888:STANDARD::pc=PC_100100


Cheers!    R-J

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22 Nov 06 - 05:28 AM (#1890558)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: Scrump

I recently discovered that my ISP's spam filter (which blocks spam without downloading it to my PC, and stores it in a folder on the server before it gets deleted automatically after an interval) was blocking valid emails as well as the rubbish. So it's worth logging into your email server on the web if you can, to check the spam folder before it gets deleted (assuming you have an auto-delete function on the server).

I run a few websites so I don't want to block all messages from unknown senders, because I get messages from strangers contacting me through the website. As I own various domains, I've found that the spammers' latest idea is sending spam to random names at these domains, e.g. [e-mail]. I put a stop to that by setting up a rule to receive all messages from the valid names, and bin the rest. It doesn't prevent spam to the valid addresses, but it does reduce the amount of time I have to spend manually deleting it.

Btw, I encoded my website email addresses in javascript, which seemed to work for a while, but the spammers seem to have worked out how to decode them, unfortunately. I'll have to come up with something more devious :-(

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22 Nov 06 - 06:08 AM (#1890584)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: treewind

Spam has increased massively worldwide in the last three months.

I've installed spamassassin on both the home and work networks recently, and it's doing pretty well after a couple of weeks training and tweaking.

For a single PC running Windows, Thunderbird is a good and simple choice.

My experience of ISP's spam filters has been disappointing. Too many false positives and false negatives and not much you can do about them.

Anahata

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22 Nov 06 - 06:32 AM (#1890598)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: Grab

Forgot to mention. If you don't have access to the servers, Spambayes can run as an add-on to Outlook on individual PCs. Don't think they've got it working with Eudora yet, but I suspect it'll work with most open-source clients.

Graham.

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22 Nov 06 - 07:38 AM (#1890619)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: The Fooles Troupe

I still use a version 2 freebie of Mail Washer to filter and kill spam - saves downloading it.

One can 'peek' at the text and headers without being able to get anything like graphics and various bugs.

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22 Nov 06 - 07:51 AM (#1890628)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: Scrump

I put a stop to that by setting up a rule to receive all messages from the valid names, and bin the rest. It doesn't prevent spam to the valid addresses, but it does reduce the amount of time I have to spend manually deleting it.

I should have said, I was talking about doing this on the server, but you could do the same thing using Mail Rules in Outlook (or similar in other email clients).

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22 Nov 06 - 08:12 AM (#1890644)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: The Fooles Troupe

R-J

that addy seems to have the lurgi...


SpamMATTERS – ACMA's spam reporting system


ACMA has implemented the SpamMATTERS reporting and forensic analysis system to help fight spam. A SpamMATTERS reporting 'button' is available for download and installation into the Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express email programs. Once installed, users can simultaneously delete their spam and report it to ACMA with one click of their mouse.


Direct Spam Submission Link

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22 Nov 06 - 08:52 AM (#1890666)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: rich-joy

Thanks, Robin!!
R-J

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22 Nov 06 - 09:04 AM (#1890669)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: The Fooles Troupe

Hope this new mob of clowns DOES soemthing R-J...

I somewhere still have an email - it took me ages years ago to track down an actual State Police Dept email addy about Porno - and I was asked to please stop sending complaints about 'Lolita Spam' there...

:-)

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22 Nov 06 - 12:45 PM (#1890862)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: mrdux

We were hosting our own email for a good long while and simply couldn't keep up with the spam without spending a vaster sum of money than we wanted to spend, so we decided to let our ISP do the hosting. So far, we've had very good success with the spam filters provided by our ISP. On my machine alone, Postini (see Guest Dale's post, above) catches and quarantines app. 800 pieces of spam a week -- in that same week, maybe three or four will sneak through to my inbox and, on average, fewer than one false positive per week. For my purposes, not bad at all. Similar results on the other dozen machines in the office. At home, my ISP uses a filter called Spasm, which performs similarly.

michael

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22 Nov 06 - 02:50 PM (#1890976)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: Gulliver

Many thanks for all the advice folks--Mudcatters rule! I'll sit down with the librarian tomorrow and we'll go through the suggestions.

In reply to s.o.'s query, I'm located in Dublin, Ireland.

I used to use the Outlook rules on my home PC but stopped for some reason (not directly related to spam). I must admit I do like to keep track of the kind of spam--the year before last it was lots of Nigerian-type scams, but they've fallen off in favour of health/medicine related stuff and investment opportunities etc (as if I had any money!).

Just as an aside, the mother of a friend of mine (in the US), a retired sensible teacher, got taken in by a phish email relating to a lottery emanating from Jamaica, got in contact by phone, and ended up sending thousands of dollars to some guy there, much to the horror of her family when they found she had delved deep into her life savings in the hope of winning millions. Even after they confiscated her cheque book she kept trying to find ways of sending money. Unbelievable but true.

Don

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22 Nov 06 - 03:34 PM (#1891019)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: Greg B

I've been using PoPFile (go too www.sourceforge.net and search
on popfile) for several years. I get tens of thousands of emails
every year, and 90% of them are SPAM. PoPFile filters them to
a level of accuracy of more than 99%.

It's a free, open-source program that runs on multiple
systems.

Like other good filtering system, it has to be trained--- everyone's
email patterns are different. But within a week, your accuracy will
be up over 90%.

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22 Nov 06 - 04:15 PM (#1891055)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: Uncle_DaveO

My ISP is Yahoo!, which uses its own antispam program. My operation is to download all messages to my computer, rather than keeping them on line.

Their program learns from usage, I'm told. As soon as my current glob of messages is downloaded, the program identifies and marks what it considers spam, and moves it to a JUNK folder, where it will stay for a period of time, and then be automatically moved to TRASH.

Because I subscribe to four mail lists, I get anywhere from 150 to 200 emails every day. Of that, perhaps as many as 50 are legitimate. Of the 150 or so spams, the program marks and moves maybe 135 to JUNK. I then scan through the list and declare the remaining spams as spam, and they are automatically moved to JUNK. Every day I take a quick look in the JUNK folder list, just so I can un-spam any legitimate messages, and then I move those back to my IN-BOX. There are VERY few of those.

So I have a number of false negatives, but almost no false positives.
At one time I also ran Norton's spam eliminator, but I found that it moved too many legitimate messages, so I cut back, to rely only on the Yahoo! system.

Because old spam in the JUNK folder are moved to TRASH automatically, I do a quick run-through my TRASH list every day, to delete spam, all of which are easy to see becase (A)They are marked, and (B) they are in bold, because unread. Just a matter of setting the filter to show only unread messages and holding down the delete button for a while.

Dave Oesterreich

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22 Nov 06 - 04:15 PM (#1891057)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: JohnInKansas

Even being "curious" about what kind of spam you're getting can be dangerous.

A currently popular crimeware method is to embed a "bot" in an email message, usually as a JavaScript element. Even opening (or previewing) the message to see what it is may allow the JS to run and put a small bot on your machine. Once the bot is in place it initiates a connection to one or more websites that download the "real pieces" to take over your machine.

Even with a good firewall, a "request to connect" that originates on your machine may look like something you want to do, so the "bot" may, so far as your firewall and AV are concerned, "look like you," with your permissions.

The initial infection can also come from unscrupulous websites, or perfectly honest ones that have been infected, and runs the script to download itself while the page opens, or if "curiosity" induces you to "click something."

While Java appears to be the most popular vehicle, there are other "scripting methods" that appear at times, so turning off JavaScripting helps, but isn't fireproof. Unfortunately, JS is useful sometimes too, and there may be times when you need to have it turned on.

Of course ; > ) it doesn't apply to anyone here, but you never know where your library users will go: "porn" and other "similarly questionable" sites are generally held to be most likely sources of this kind of malware. It's uncertain whether Google has "sanitized" their search results out of "moral conviction" or just because the sites with "that kind of stuff" are so frequently dangerous; but they do seem to return lots less of it recently. (There are other search engines that specialize in it that your library patrons might use.)

Most of these exploits do rely on "vulnerabilities" in the OS, and keeping current with patches is probably the most effective single thing one can do (aside from not being stupidly curious). For Windows, only WinXP and (for now) Win2K can be patched, unless it's something really critical; and Microsoft's idea of critical leaves out a lot of known weaknesses in WinME and Win98.

It's really uncertain whether other operating systems are "less vulnerable" or whether they're just not big enough targets to be worthwhile to the criminals. The last pack of 12 OS-X patches (about a month ago?) look to me like "carbon copies" of patches issued for Windows over the past year or so; but Apple doesn't provide enough information for real assessment by "disinterested" people like me.

John

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22 Nov 06 - 06:51 PM (#1891203)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: nutty

I also use 'Mailwasher' for my netscape email. It's free and extremely effective.

I also have a Googlemail account and am very impressed by the effectiveness of the Google 'spam' filter, but the secret really is to install a programme which allows you to read your mail before you download it to your machine.

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22 Nov 06 - 07:38 PM (#1891255)
Subject: RE: Tech: Drowning in spam--any recent/new ideas?
From: The Fooles Troupe

Jik

Mailwasher is supposed to neutralise all those bots - because only text is previewed (not downloading the 'image files'), and none of all that advanced "M$CrudWare" stuff is supposed to run in it.

With "blacklist" and "whitelist" capabilities, you set new wanted people in the "whitelist" on the first received message, and it does its own searches on 'blacklist servers' to keep a record of new knkown domains and addresses that mainly produce spam, thus it marks them thus.

You can also set up a large number of filters based on whatever address formats or or subject contents you want.

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