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UTORmail - SPAM
Note:
On 15
December 2003, a new anti-spam filter was introduced on UTORmail.
Please visit www.utoronto.ca/ns/antispam
for more information.
- What is SPAM?
- Why am I receiving SPAM?
- SPAM Prevention Strategies?
- Can't the University just
block SPAM?
- Read more about SPAM
What is
SPAM?
SPAM is unsolicited e-mail on the Internet, the
electronic equivalent of junk mail or unsolicited
phone marketing. Most of the time, SPAM comes in
the form of advertising or get-rich quick messages.
Less frequently but often more volatile, is SPAM
referring to pornography in varying degrees of
explicitness.
Why am I
receiving SPAM?
SPAM should not be confused with opt-in e-mail or
permission-based e-mail. Some apparently
unsolicited e-mail is, in fact, e-mail people
agreed to receive when they registered with a site
and checked a box agreeing to receive postings
about particular products or interests. Easy to
forget.
That said,
eventually, everyone who has an email address will
receive at least one SPAM message - it is not
personal and you are not alone.
SPAMMERs are a very resourceful
bunch when it comes to collecting email addresses. Many use "spambot"
programs which search the Internet and harvest valid e-mail addresses
on web pages, in Usenet newsgroups and in chatrooms. Lists of email
addresses are often then sold to other SPAMMERs. Others might use
automated tools to subscribe to as many mailing lists as possible,
so that they can grab the lists of addresses, or use the mailing
list as a direct target for their attacks.
SPAM
Prevention Strategies?
There is no
absolute, 100% guarenteed way to prevent or stop
SPAM. The best you can do it to try to minimize
volume by keeping your email address away from
spammers. This can be done in a number of
ways:
- Avoid signing
up for Internet games or posting to guestbooks
or newsgroups using your primary e-mail address.
Many people choose to get a free second e-mail
account through one of several web-based mail
services Hotmail, or Yahoo mail, and then use
that address to sign up for games or promotions
online.
- Do not reply
to SPAM even if it has a "Remove me" note. Why?
First, almost all spam is forged so replying to
a spam with 'remove' will not even get
there. It is a waste of key strokes. In
the few instances where the "remove" address is
real, you will have just confirmed that your
email address is alive and well. A SPAMMER will
likely put you onto a special list of known
"live" email addresses. This list will be
sold over and over again to other
spammers.
- Unlist your
UTORmail address from the on-line UTORmail
directory. Go to
http://www.mail.utoronto.ca/mboxmodify.html
- If you are
using Outlook Express or Netscape Messenger, you
can set up filters to reroute SPAM to your
Trash.
Can't the University just
block SPAM?
Note:
On 15
December 2003, a new anti-spam filter was introduced on UTORmail.
Please visit www.utoronto.ca/ns/antispam
for more information. The following information is now strictly
historical.
The
University's Academic Advisory Committee discussed the issue of
spam on October 9, 2002. The following is an excerpt from the minutes,
| "CNS
has reviewed SpamAssassin. The program has approximately 200
rules that it applies to mail in order to rate it. UofT handles
approximately 19,000 messages/hour, meaning that hardware and
software would cost approximately $200,000 to monitor UTORmail
alone. The committee unanimously opposed spending this amount
of money on a solution that would be flawed at best. An education
program informing the community of the costs vs. the benefits
of a spam detector program would be preferable. Individuals
and units that are hardest hit could install personal spam detector
programs. CNS could negotiate site licenses and provide central
support." |
CNS
is currently evaluating desktop PC (as opposed to post office) based
tools that assist with managing junk mail.
Read more about SPAM
- SpamCop
www.spamcop.net
- CAUSE
www.cauce.org
- EmailAbuse.Org www.emailabuse.org
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