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Saving Private Email Saving Private E-mail, an article by Steven J. Vaughan –Nichols gives a clear overview of the seriousness of Spam E-mail. Nichols makes the reader aware of the enormous efforts that go into stopping the epidemic of unsolicited mail. Being around for ten or so years, Spam reached a milestone in 2004 as it now accounts for over 50 percent of all E-mail transfers according to e-mail security firm MessageLabs Ltd. in Gloucester, UK. As the article introduces us to the traditional aspect of Spam filtering which is blacklisting the illegitimate sites etc. it also introduces us to a new concept called the Bayesian Method. The new strategies draw on techniques of probability theory originally invented by Thomas Bayes, the 18th century mathematician, to analyze entire e-mail messages instead of just the words that jump out (“Viagra,” “cable descrambler,” “Abacha”). (Nichols, 2004 p.40) New methodology is implemented every day to fight spam as its rapid growth is sure to discourage e-mail users from further use of the service. As with anything, when it comes to talking about ethics of a particular issue, the economics and expenses must get a mention when talking about spam. While the spammers expense is minimal, an e-mail account or two and a list of e-mail addresses obtainable by the bulk of millions, for less than $100, the victims losses in this whole ordeal are considerably larger. Dealing with spam like this does not come at all cheap. David Daniels, president and CEO of Starfish Internet Service, a small North Carolina ISP in Morehead City, found he had to add a second mail server just to filter spam. “Running everything on one box was slowing down mailbox access by our customers even though the machine should be capable of supporting at least 10 times as many accounts as were on it,” he complains. Because the economics of spam strongly favour its business model, we have no choice but to see more and more of it sneaking through into our in-boxes. Even the latest Bayesian techniques applied to spam filters can not give a 100% guarantee that it will stop all unwanted mail and let through the legitimate messages. As it applies the mathematics of probability to evaluate each word within the message and adds the probabilities to come up with a value on which it then decides whether a mail is spam or not, other issues are raised. For example if your friend sends you an e-mail message which reads in the topic title bar “Hi, Want free tickets to the movies?”. The Bayesian filters would simply discard the message so you miss out on a free movie pass. On the other hand spammers could also camouflage their message with other characters eg: C{H{E{A[P V*IA^G*R*A Another way to fight spam is in the courts. As the “Can Spam” act of ’03 came into effect in January 2004, it hoped to discourage spammers from further offences of bulk mailing by imposing heavy fines and even imprisonment. The spammers however were quick to find a legal loophole within the act and therefore favoured it as it came into effect. As section 877-9(a) of the act states “IN GENERAL.—It is unlawful for any person to initiate the transmission to a protected computer of a commercial electronic mail message that does not contain a functioning return electronic mail address or other Internet-based mechanism, clearly and conspicuously displayed, that— (i) a recipient may use to submit, in a manner specified in the message, a reply electronic mail message or other form of Internet-based communication requesting not to receive future commercial electronic mail messages from that sender at the electronic mail address where the message was received;”(Can Spam Act 2003). This simply means that spamming becomes legal on the day the act comes into effect as long as the spam mail gives the consumer an option to unsubscribe from further mailings of this nature. All that the spammers would have to do is to change the content of the message so for example they now try to sell home insurance instead of viagra or thousands and thousands of other unwanted products. The “Can Spam” act was soon dubbed “You Can Spam” act, as it opens a window of opportunity for 23 million US businesses to flood the internet with their offers legally. Professional spammers are pouring in money into setting up new spam mail servers as now they are under the protection of a US legislative act. Furthermore spam king Alan Ralsky says, the Can Spam Act protects us from companies filtering out our content under the United States Banner of free Commercialism. “Saving private e-mail” is a great article which subtly introduces the reader to the behind the scenes world of internet commerce crime. Using clearly defined examples and graphics, Nichols explains the seriousness of unsolicited bulk e-mail, the problems it represents us with and the economics upon which it relies on.
Steven J. Vaughan Nichols, “Saving Private E-mail” IEEE Spectrum, Vol.40, No.8 August 2003, pp 40-44 [Accessed 02/03/04]“United States set to Legalize Spamming” 22/11/2003,http://www.spamhaus.org/news.lasso?article=150Paul Graham “A Plan for Spam” 12/03/2009, USA ‘‘Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003’’, or the ‘‘CANSPAM Act of 2003’’.
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