Emailing the Spammers

Here is one way to attack spam, found on New Media Report, written by Elizabeth G. Hines. Anti-spam/spyware company, Blue Security, has developed a method of actively deterring spam—by hitting the spammers before they hit you. When you sign up for their Do Not Intrude Registry, Blue Security will set up multiple email addresses in your name, designed specifically to attract spam.

Spammers found emailing one of those accounts will be sent a warning to remove both the fake Blue Security addresses and your actual addresses from their list. If the spammers don't comply, Blue Security's Blue Frog client software, which resides on your system, follows the links in the spam to their various web sites, seeks out any submission forms, and posts complaints there. The idea is to post so many complaints on a spammer's web site that it drives up their bandwidth costs and eventually shuts them down.

It's an aggressive strategy, one that bares a stark resemblance to Denial of Service (DoS) attacks—which are illegal in America and most of Europe. However, Blue Security's Marketing Director, Eran Aloni brushed off that comparison. "We are confident that our solution is ethical and legal, we have invested a lot of thought and effort in making sure we comply to strict ethical standards," Aloni said. And then they beat them with a stick.