Spam Driving You Crazy?  Here’s Help  Spam | Spyware

The Internet expression “spam” comes from an old Monty Python skit in which normal discourse is impossible (see http://www.detritus.org/spam/skit.html ). A couple is shown ordering dinner in a restaurant. All entrées include either a little spam or a lot of spam. Every time anyone says, “spam” a table of Vikings begin singing, “spam, spam, spam, spam . . .”  The woman ordering doesn’t want any spam but reasonable communication is prevented by the Vikings. Soon she becomes exasperated. We all know how she feels—Help! let me out of this mad play. 

Unfortunately there is no escaping Internet spam. For now, we must carry on and do our best to muffle the noise.

For simplicity, we’ll discuss two types of spam. Unsolicited Commercial Email and Spyware popups.  

Email
By most definitions any type of chain email, worm generated email or unsolicited commercial email is considered spam. For reasons not fully understood but partly due to successful globalization of the Internet, the volume of spam is growing exponentially. Beating spam is a game that can never be fully won. As fast as sophisticated means are developed to filter out spam, spammers use more devious methods to bypass spam filtering.

Most of the technologies that manage spam fall into three categories: pattern/feature/Bayesian recognition, black lists, and white lists. White lists are good lists usually created for each individual user—mail from people or domains you trust. Black lists can come from a service that collectively decides who is a spammer and black lists can be created locally for your individual email account. The best spam blocking software uses all three techniques and specifically makes use of Bayesian filtering and collective black lists.

What to Do

1. Don’t get on any spam lists in the first place. Never respond to spam. Don’t even unsubscribe to spam unless you are sure of the source. Otherwise you may simply verify your email’s legitimacy. Don’t buy anything, join mailing lists, or post anywhere public with your permanent or professional email.
2. Do your dirty work with temporary, email accounts. Yahoo provides free, reliable email accounts. Post, play, and buy freely using your free email. Once the spam becomes troublesome, dump it and create a new one.
3. If you have a permanent account that is driving you crazy with spam, consider changing it. For example, if your current email is george@whitehouse.gov, you might change it to georgew, george.bush, gbush, or daPrez@whitehouse.gov
4. For accounts that you just can’t give up, you can try inexpensive filtering systems including SpamCatcher ( spamcatcher.com ) or free SpamPal (spampal.org ).

Spyware Popups
The recent flurry of unwanted popups come not from Websites but from insidious spyware and adware. Spyware sneaks itself into your computer’s registry when you install freeware, open contaminated email or surf the Web. Internet Explorer is surprisingly vulnerable to unauthorized installations even with proper permission settings (see below).

What to Do 

1. As a preventative, don’t install adware and be careful about installing any freeware.
2. Internet Explorer’s advanced security settings should set to a minimum of medium. Also, Deny your browser permission to install any ActiveX control you haven't requested.
3. If you already are using adware such as Gator, KaZaA or the likes, get rid of it. If you like KaZaA, remove it and install KaZaA lite. Ironically, some of the free popup blockers actually install spyware that in turn cause more popups.
4. Scan your system for spyware and adware. Some good, FREE programs are listed below.
    

   New! Microsoft's Beta Version AntiSpyware seems to offer better real-time protection and superior monitoring over the Lavasoft Ad-aware. Nothing official from Microsoft but there could be a charge from Microsoft starting July 31, 2005 with version 1.X Unofficially, per MS Support Tech Jeff, Microsoft will require proof of registration to continue with the service starting July 31. Jeff suggested that Microsoft will finally crack down on unregistered operating systems using their AntiSpyware service as leverage.

   Links   Comments securitytools.msnw Excellent site for anti-virus, anti-spam, and anti-spyware resources. majorgeeks.com/download Better off left to the geeks, HijackThis is a good tool for advanced cleaning of spyware and exploits. The interface is difficult to interpret without the log analyzer below. User group support is readily available if you have the time. Make sure you back up your registry before using this tool. hjt.iamnotageek HijackThis log analyzer. Very useful tool. Microsoft AntiSpyware Microsoft AntiSpyware program. Very stable and highly useful for preventing and removing spyware.* Trend Micro's Housecall A excellent non-invasive combination anti-virus, anti-spyware tool.* *Recommended for non-geeks

For more information about spam including notorious spammers, see Spamhaus.org

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Odin Wortman is president of Internet Marketing Solutions, a Web development and consulting firm. It’s OK to email him at