CSC 379 SUM2008:Week 1, Group 4: Difference between revisions
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Fighting against spam is difficult when its countermeasures come at a cost as well. E-mail is not just storage; much resources must be devoted to its processing, and the cost of efforts from virus scans of content to filtering all can be significant. Aggressive countermeasures have a negative impact on productivity, when the number of “false positives” is too great (legitimate emails incorrectly filed as spam). Examine the breadth of countermeasures available to combat spam, providing a brief review of the ethical considerations each raise, and links to online resources that cite specific instances or effects of each. | Fighting against spam is difficult when its countermeasures come at a cost as well. E-mail is not just storage; much resources must be devoted to its processing, and the cost of efforts from virus scans of content to filtering all can be significant. Aggressive countermeasures have a negative impact on productivity, when the number of “false positives” is too great (legitimate emails incorrectly filed as spam). Examine the breadth of countermeasures available to combat spam, providing a brief review of the ethical considerations each raise, and links to online resources that cite specific instances or effects of each. | ||
==Server-Side Spam Filters== | ==Spam Countermeasures== | ||
===Server-Side Spam Filters=== | |||
These filters scan and quarantine spam before the end-user even know it exists. | These filters scan and quarantine spam before the end-user even know it exists. | ||
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==Pay-per-email== | ===Pay-per-email=== | ||
Problems: Absolutely Insane | Problems: Absolutely Insane | ||
==Aggressive Legal Prosecution== | ===Aggressive Legal Prosecution=== | ||
==Do-Not-Spam Lists== | ===Do-Not-Spam Lists=== | ||
Will probably work as well as the do-not-call list, that is, barely at all. | Will probably work as well as the do-not-call list, that is, barely at all. | ||
=="Client"-Side Spam Filters== | ==="Client"-Side Spam Filters=== | ||
Many popular email systems (such as gmail and ncsu's webmail) now provide client-side filtering of emails that are determined to be spam. These filters work by scanning emails for spam-related phrases such as "offer" or "male enhancement!!11!11!1" and quarantine emails that meet these pre-determined conditions. The obvious negative of this system is the possibility of legitimate emails being missed/trashed because they accidentally met the conditions to be considered spam. The major benefit of client-side filtering is the ability of the user to set the conditions rather than a corporate entity where censorship might come into play. | Many popular email systems (such as gmail and ncsu's webmail) now provide client-side filtering of emails that are determined to be spam. These filters work by scanning emails for spam-related phrases such as "offer" or "male enhancement!!11!11!1" and quarantine emails that meet these pre-determined conditions. The obvious negative of this system is the possibility of legitimate emails being missed/trashed because they accidentally met the conditions to be considered spam. The major benefit of client-side filtering is the ability of the user to set the conditions rather than a corporate entity where censorship might come into play. | ||
==Captchas (Image Recognition Logins)== | ===Captchas (Image Recognition Logins)=== | ||
Captchas, aka the cryptic text filled images you must decode before you make an account/post on many webpages, offer an additional layer of security where spam or bots might pose a threat. The thought here is that bots will not be able to read the text where a human would have no problem, therefore eliminating the bots ability to create fake accounts or posts on servers. | Captchas, aka the cryptic text filled images you must decode before you make an account/post on many webpages, offer an additional layer of security where spam or bots might pose a threat. The thought here is that bots will not be able to read the text where a human would have no problem, therefore eliminating the bots ability to create fake accounts or posts on servers. | ||
Recently captcha-reading-capable bots have been created that threaten the future of captchas as a security technique. | Recently captcha-reading-capable bots have been created that threaten the future of captchas as a security technique. | ||
Revision as of 23:41, 9 July 2008
The Effects of Spam-Countermeasures
Fighting against spam is difficult when its countermeasures come at a cost as well. E-mail is not just storage; much resources must be devoted to its processing, and the cost of efforts from virus scans of content to filtering all can be significant. Aggressive countermeasures have a negative impact on productivity, when the number of “false positives” is too great (legitimate emails incorrectly filed as spam). Examine the breadth of countermeasures available to combat spam, providing a brief review of the ethical considerations each raise, and links to online resources that cite specific instances or effects of each.
Spam Countermeasures
Server-Side Spam Filters
These filters scan and quarantine spam before the end-user even know it exists.
Possible concerns - privacy, accuracy
Pay-per-email
Problems: Absolutely Insane
Aggressive Legal Prosecution
Do-Not-Spam Lists
Will probably work as well as the do-not-call list, that is, barely at all.
"Client"-Side Spam Filters
Many popular email systems (such as gmail and ncsu's webmail) now provide client-side filtering of emails that are determined to be spam. These filters work by scanning emails for spam-related phrases such as "offer" or "male enhancement!!11!11!1" and quarantine emails that meet these pre-determined conditions. The obvious negative of this system is the possibility of legitimate emails being missed/trashed because they accidentally met the conditions to be considered spam. The major benefit of client-side filtering is the ability of the user to set the conditions rather than a corporate entity where censorship might come into play.
Captchas (Image Recognition Logins)
Captchas, aka the cryptic text filled images you must decode before you make an account/post on many webpages, offer an additional layer of security where spam or bots might pose a threat. The thought here is that bots will not be able to read the text where a human would have no problem, therefore eliminating the bots ability to create fake accounts or posts on servers.
Recently captcha-reading-capable bots have been created that threaten the future of captchas as a security technique.