The Internet and Access to Information Why is it so difficult to eliminate SPAM? By:Juan C. Vargas Computer Science 450

Spam has become a major problem in our society and despite many attempts, no perfect solution has been found. Internet Spam Percentage Source: Symantec

Regions of SPAM Origin ◦United States 29% ◦Turkey 8% ◦Russia 7% ◦South Korea 4% ◦China 4% ◦India 4% ◦Brazil 3% Malware detected in Messages

Measures Taken Against SPAM Top Malware detected (2008) ◦Trojan Horse 13.4% ◦Downloader 11.8% ◦Infostealer 11.1% Law The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 Unsubscribe Compliance Content Compliance Sending Behavior Compliance Content is Exempt if it consists of: Religious Messages Political messages National Security Messages

The CAN-SPAM Act is commonly referred to by anti-spam activists as the YOU-CAN-SPAM Act because: ◦The bill does not require ers to get permission before they send marketing messages. ◦It also prevents states from enacting stronger anti-spam protections. ◦The Act has been largely unenforced  About 1% of SPAM complies with CAN-SPAM ACT

Software ◦SPAM Filters and Blockers  Examine the header and content of the message, and look for various features ◦ Where the message came from ◦ What software sent the message ◦ What the message looks like  Extensions linked to SPAM ◦ ade adp app asd asf asx bas bat chm cmd com cpl crt dll exe fxp hlp hta hto inf ini ins isp jse lib lnk mdb mde msc msi msp mst ocx pcd pif prg rar reg scr sct sh shb shs sys url vb vbe vbs vcs vxd wmd wms wmz wsc wsf wsh

Blacklisting ◦Keeps on growing and changing ◦Causes problems when a Legit ISPs get blacklisted  s are not received on time or not receive at all until problem is resolved. Whitelisting User has to allow valid senders. (Time Consuming) Keep updating white list every time a valid sender changes it address Problem: Zombie Computers

Zombie Computers ◦In September 2008, there was a 101 percent increase in the number of active zombie computers sending spam. ◦Top countries hosting zombie machines  Turkey 12%  Brazil 9%  Russia 8%  India 6%  United States 6%

Conclusion Because of Zombie Computers maintaining a Blacklist or white list will not solve the problem of SPAM CAN-SPAM ACT has many flaws and without the compromise of all countries around the world it is useless.