Re: Spam Checkers

From: JerryMouse (nospam_at_bisusa.com)
Date: 12/05/03 

Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2003 16:53:28 -0600

James J. Gavan wrote:
> Just curious if anybody has had any success with the Spam Checkers
> currently being touted.
>
> As is, I can build in my own manual checks with Netscape. For a while
> it seemed effective, sending much of the junk to Trash. However the
> *bastards* are getting clever, e.g., comes in as say *p*e*n*i*s so you
> can't trap it. So my trash mail is on the up and up.
>
> A Spam checker surely can only be an automated version of what I'm
> doing - and just as I could manually, there is the possibility that a
> Spam checker *will* Trash a message I REALLY DO want to receive ?

1. The new Outlook has spam-checking built in and it catches a few that
sneak through #2
2. There are several add-ons that filter your mail (We use SpamEater Pro).
What you want is one that can access external, dynamic, blocking lists in
addition to its own rules. The external lists we use are (numbers in
brackets [x] are quantity blocked so far this month):

*SpamCop (bl.spamcop.net) [21430]
*Distributed Server Boycott List (list.dsbl.org)[6048]
*Distributed Server Multi-Hop List (multihop.dsbl.org)[14]
*RFC Ignorant list (ipwhois.rfc-ignorant.org)[925]
*Many countries (Argentina, Brazil, China, Korea, HongKong,Japan, Malaysia,
Nigeria, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey) all availabl at
www.blackholes.us [~3000]
*Several spam-friendly ISPs (Verio, Burst,XO) [~200]
*SPEWS (spews.org) [167]**

3. The problem with Baysian filters is that they let the first one through -
you have to train the filter.

4. Lurk in news.admin.net-abuse.email newsgroup for a few months. You'll be
amazed. I'll get you started on the lingo:
[C&C] - Cat & Coke = Warning: the following post is so funny, you should set
aside any cats or Cokes nearby because uncontrolled laughter will otherwise
result in scratches or liquid-in-the-nose.
[CARTOONEY] - Legal threat, usually involving interference with "Frea
Speach"
LART = Luser Attidude Readjustment Tool - A complaint to an ISP about a
spammer.
ROKSO = Registry of Known Spam Organizations.
SPAM = SPiced hAM - A trademark of Hormel
FOAD = *** Off And Die - Usual retort to spammers.
"Innocent bystander" = Someone caught in an IP-range block that's not a
spammer himself (anti-spammers call these people "human shields"). The usual
response to someone whineing about being so trapped is: "Sometimes the
innocent must suffer, often in great numbers, so that no spammer prevails."
-----------

**SPEWS (Spam Prevention Early Warning System) lists offending IP addresses.
If the responsible ISP does not evict the spammer, SPEWS escalates the
listing to eventually encompass the entire IP space of the spam-friendly
ISP. Spews has no contact name, telephone number, email address, or physical
location. Their servers are located in Irktusk, Siberia. They do not show
pity, negotiate, or defend their actions. As such, they are immune to
lawsuits.