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Dealing with Spam

Spam is unsolicited e-mail sent to a large number of users. Most of us have been inundated with offers for great deals on mortgage rates, credit card offers, low cost prescriptions, etc. Common features of spam are:

• Misleading subject lines

• False routing information

• Invalid return e-mail addresses

• Simultaneous mailings to large number of recipients

Spam is becoming one of the largest problems to e-mail users. The results of a recent survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project indicated:

• 27 percent of e-mail users say spam is a big problem for them

• 55 percent say it is sometimes hard to get to the messages they want to read when suing personal e-mail accounts; this drops to 34 percent for work e-mail accounts

• 62 percent of respondents say their employers use filters to block spam at work

Spam affects organizations in several ways. It can have a negative impact on productivity. According to the Pew survey, 10 percent spend more than half an hour a day on it.

Governments are debating and enacting legislation to control the use of spam and make it easier for organizations to filter unwanted bulk e-mail. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 was signed into law in December. This Act attacks spam through an opt-out approach, allowing companies to continue to send unsolicited commercial e-mail messages until the recipient requests to be removed from the list. So what is legal and what is not?

What is legal?

• E-mail containing a transactional or relationship message, such as order processing and product updates

• UCE (unsolicited commercial e-mail) containing accurate contact information for the sender

What is illegal?

• Fraudulent or deceptive subject lines, headers or e-mail addresses

• Sending e-mails to e-mail addresses that have been harvested from web sites or randomly generated

• Sending sexually oriented e-mails without an identifying subject line

• Not maintaining a functioning unsubscribe system or return e-mail address for a least 30 days from the date of the last bulk mailing

• Hijacking another e-mail server to send or relay spam

• Registering for e-mail addresses under false identifies

• Not removing e-mail addresses in a timely manner after an opt-out request has been received

According to a recent article in Internetweek.com, almost half of spam is bugged with a so-called "spam beacon" which is used for tracking users who open junk e-mail. The spam has hidden HTML code that spammers embedded in their messages in an effort to fine-tune their distribution lists and send out even more junk e-mail. When a user opens or even previews a message containing a spam beacon, it signals the spammer, validating the address as live and helping spammers separate the "good" addresses from the "bad."

The good news is that here is a range of vendors who offer a selection of anti-spam products which are suitable for organizations of all sizes. While this will not completely eliminate spam, it can drastically reduce the amount of spam you receive.

If you have any questions regarding spam and e-mail, feel free to contact WebsiteDesigner.Com at 401-454-1487.

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