As anyone who uses e-mail knows, “SPAM” is more than affordable protein and the subject of a Monty Python comic sketch. SPAM (or “Unsolicited Commercial E-mail”, UCE) is the electronic equivalent of paper junk mail, although some find it even more objectionable. To an individual, SPAM can be a petty annoyance or a plague, depending on how e-mail is accessed (via a fast network connection, or a slow modem). SPAM is a growing problem on today’s Internet, because its costs are borne by network providers and users rather than those generating it.
SPAMmers are always looking for well-connected systems that will accept their advertisements and relay them to points all over the Internet. This is done to conceal the identity of a SPAMmer, or to allow access to mail servers that have blocked transmissions from the SPAMmer’s own network. Several servers at UCI have been abused in this manner, causing throughput problems and downtime.
Through no fault of its users or operators, abuse by SPAMers can cause a mail host to be placed on an e-mail “blacklist.” Hosts that allow “e-mail relaying” (see the next article) are also blacklisted. E-mail from a blacklisted host is refused by some servers, which can prevent the exchange of important e-mail between Internet users.
SPAM is a tough problem for which there is no complete technical solution. Fortunately, there are several efforts underway to thwart SPAM on the Internet. If you would like more information, please see one of the Web references below: