Spam

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Spam
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Spamming in general

• Spamming is the abuse of electronic messaging
  systems to send unsolicited bulk messages.
• Forms of spam
• E-mail spam
• Instant messaging spam
• Web search engine spam
• Spam in blogs
• Wiki spam
• Online game messaging spam
• Mobile phone messaging spam
• Internet forum spam

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How to stop spams?

• Spamming remains economically viable as
  advertisers have no operating costs beyond the
  management of their mailing lists
• It is difficult to hold senders responsible for
  their mass mailings.
• As there are no barriers to entry, spammers are
  numerous, and the volume of unsolicited mail has
  become very high.
• Spamming is widely blamed and has become the
  subject of legislation in many jurisdictions.

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E-mail spam

• Is the practice of sending unwanted e-mail
  messages, usually with commercial content, in
  large quantities to large set of recipients.
• Spam in e-mail started to become a problem when
  the Internet was opened up to the general public
  in the mid 90s.
• It grew exponentially over the following years,
  and today comprises 80 to 85 of all the emails,
  but some sources go as high as 95.

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Way of spreading

• E-mail spam is sent via "zombie networks",
  networks of virus-infected personal computers in
  homes and offices around the world.
• Many modern worms install a backdoor which
  allows the spammer access to the computer.
• This complicates the control of spam, as in many
  cases the spam doesn't even originate from the
  spammer.
• Pressure to make e-mail spam illegal has been
  successful in some jurisdictions, but not
  everywhere.
• Spammers take advantage of this fact, and
  frequently outsource their operations to
  countries where spamming is legal.

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Instant Messaging spam

• Sometimes it is called spim.
• Uses instant messaging systems, such as Yahoo
  messenger or Windows Live Messenger or Xfire.
• Many IM systems offer a user directory, including
  demographic information that allows an advertiser
  to gather the information, sign on to the system,
  and send unsolicited messages.

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Other spams

• Video sharing sites, such as YouTube, are
  frequently targeted by spammers.
• The most common technique involves people posting
  links to sites on the comments section of random
  videos or people's profiles.
• Mobile phone spam is directed to the text
  messaging service of a mobile phone.
• This can be especially irritating to customers
  not only because of the inconvenience but also
  because of the fee which can be charged per text
  message received.

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Thank you for your attention!

• Prepared by Szolnoki Viktória