Spam's Rebound: What You Can Do

Iria · Jan 23, 2007, 12:26 AM

Source: The Red Tape Chronicles
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The resurgence of spam is generating a lot of attention right now, so here's a quick explanation of what's going on, and what to do about it.

One reason spam is once again clogging up your inbox: Spammers have turned anti-spam technology against us right now.

Many Web sites require users to create accounts by typing in a word or scrambled letters that appear in a graphic (and sometimes, that word is too hard to see). That technology is called CAPTCHA, which stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart. Web site designers employ this tedious process because it prevents spammers from creating millions of fake accounts -- it turns out to be a very difficult problem for computers to "read" images.

Frustrated by CAPTCHA, spammers turned the tool on its head. Now, about half of all spam comes as pictures, which are often impossible for computers to distinguish from snapshots of the grandkids. Image spam is the big reason your inbox seems out of control again. A more detailed explanation of what's going on was provided in Friday's column.

Jan 23, 2007, 12:26 AM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	Spam's Rebound: What You Can Do Source: The Red Tape Chronicles _________ The resurgence of spam is generating a lot of attention right now, so here's a quick explanation of what's going on, and what to do about it. One reason spam is once again clogging up your inbox: Spammers have turned anti-spam technology against us right now. Many Web sites require users to create accounts by typing in a word or scrambled letters that appear in a graphic (and sometimes, that word is too hard to see). That technology is called CAPTCHA, which stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart. Web site designers employ this tedious process because it prevents spammers from creating millions of fake accounts -- it turns out to be a very difficult problem for computers to "read" images. Frustrated by CAPTCHA, spammers turned the tool on its head. Now, about half of all spam comes as pictures, which are often impossible for computers to distinguish from snapshots of the grandkids. Image spam is the big reason your inbox seems out of control again. A more detailed explanation of what's going on was provided in Friday's column.