Canning Spam : You've Got Mail (That You Don't Want)

Rating:
Summary: Easy to understand
Review: A very easy to read book that goes through various aspects of spam, and how to minimise your exposure to it. Of course, you need to be familiar with email, because you're getting spam, aren't you? But other than that, the technical background needed to understand the authors' points is minimal.

They explain clearly and in simple terms why spam exists, and the common ways in which spammers can get your email address and the typical characteristics of the spam that they send.

Various simple antispam techniques are shown. These are mostly aimed at the end user. For example, they suggest that you do not post your email address widely on the net. Or, if you post it on your web page, you choose something like drawing it in an image, so that a spam bot cannot harvest it. Or having an obscure address, like [e-mail], instead of a simple [e-mail]. So that your address cannot be found by a dictionary attack.

The problem with the authors' suggestions is that they undermine a lot of the usefulness of email. For example, having a short and simple address helps others remember it and type it correctly. And being able to just disseminate addresses widely was and still remains a core utility of email.

Rating:
Summary: this is the book I was looking for
Review: Although aimed at the end user, the book is also a must read for anyone setting email policies for company mail servers. it explains the connections between spam and viruses, how to avoid infecting your computer, howe to avoid getting onto spam lists, and all the spammer tricks to evade detection and point the blame for their spam to innocent parties. I thought I knew just about everything there was to know about spam. When half way through the book I was going into my copy of Eudora and modifying my environment to follow the author's advice, I knew that I was reading a book written by someone who knew his stuff. If I wrote a book on spam fighting and avoidance, this is the one that I would have wanted to write.