Although there still seem to be some differences among the US Government, the lawmakers, the anti-spam organizations and the spammers regarding what is spam and what is not, identifying it is actually pretty easy: if you did not ask for it, you did not sign up on a mailing list related to it, and did not leave your e-mail address on a web form asking for more information on it…it’s spam! The spam issue is not about content, but solely about delivery method. The content of spam is and has always been irrelevant.

Again, if it is sent unsolicited and in bulk, it is spam plain and simple. Sure we want spam to stop. Nobody wants their e-mail address cycling around from spammer to spammer. We can delete it, but have you ever stopped to consider how much time we actually spend each day hitting the ‘Delete’ button? We should not have to beg to be removed from something we did not ask to be put on in the first place! So where do we draw the line? When do we start thinking it is not worth logging into our email account to read our messages? Despite the effort of thousands of angry spam victims pushing for stronger laws against spammers over the last few years, not much progress has been done in this respect. Moreover, in January 2004 the U.S. Government has passed the CAN-SPAM Act, a law backed overwhelmingly by spammers and large corporations, because it legalized spamming instead of banning it. With the passage of CAN-SPAM, spamming has become legal throughout the United States. Now 23 million U.S. businesses can all begin spamming email addresses as long as they give users a way to opt-out. What CAN-SPAM makes illegal is the use of open proxies or any form of resource misappropriation as well as use of false headers, which for the top spammers to avoid is business as usual.

We will not argue here about the motives of the US law makers to pass the CAN-SPAM, but rather focus on the problem of doing something about the spam in your mailbox. By doing more than "just hitting delete", you are helping to solve the problem. We should all exercise our right of control, or we will lose it.

The million dollar question is whether it is possible to stop spam. The most honest answer to this question is probably not — but you can significantly reduce it. Below are some clear and simple tips to greatly reduce the amount of spam you get:

1) Use a separate email address when you post messages to public forums, such as newsgroups and mailing lists. Never use your personal email address for this purpose — or it will end up flooded with spam.

2) Consider acquiring multiple email addresses for different purposes. This helps to identify different sources and senders, and allows you to filter more effectively. For instance, you may have one for personal use only by friends, family or colleagues that is never used to request information or to subscribe to newsletters, discussion lists, etc. Another might be used just for sales inquiries or orders, or for making online purchases.

3) You can subscribe to services online that provide you with disposable addresses that can be deleted if they begin to attract spam messages. This works because the disposable email addresses actually forward to a real email address of yours. The software lets you track which addresses are getting spam, and you can just resubscribe using a new, spam-free address. One company that offers disposable email accounts is Sneakemail.

4) Remove your email address from your website. If you list or link to your email address, you can expect to be spammed. Thus, remove them wherever possible and use web-based forms instead. This will drastically cut down the amount of spam you receive if you have a website.

5) NEVER buy anything from a company that spams. Do not visit their sites or ask for more information from a spam email that you have received. Over 95% of spam offers are scams! In fact, not responding to spam is the single most effective way to not get scammed on the Internet.

6) Filter your email. Using filters is key to managing your email effectively.

7) Consider subscribing to a spam prevention service. Make sure that any software or system you select gives you control of which email you get and does not automatically erase messages. Also, safeguard your newsletter and discussion list subscriptions. If you, your ISP or web host use spam filters or white lists, be sure to let them know that you want to receive messages from any newsletters or discussion lists that you subscribe to.

8) Report the spam to agencies that maintain statistics. Such agencies generally compile statistics that may be useful in setting policy. One trusted anti-spam organization where you can report spammers is the Anti-SPAM League. Learn how to become a member for free by clicking here.

9) Report fraudulent or otherwise illegal content to appropriate authorities. While fraud per se is an issue separate from spam, unsolicited email often contains offers for illegal or fraudulent products.

10) Contact your Internet Service Provider. Although this is unlikely to affect the amount of spam you receive since it is not their fault that their system was attacked from outside, ISPs want to know about spam attacks, either to learn how to protect their system, or to set policy.

11) Contact the sender’s Internet Service Provider(s). Most ISPs in the world forbid their members to send spam. Therefore, if your complaint is valid, then there is a good chance the spammer will lose connectivity.

12) Demand restitution from the spammer. If you continually receive spam from a single source, you have a right to demand repayment for the time and resources the spammer used.

13) Initiate legal action against the spammer. This should be a last resort, as legal action is troublesome and expensive. However, well-executed legal action may do more than just get one spammer off your back: it may lower the amount of spam on the Internet in general. By forcing unsolicited and objectionable materials into our mailboxes, spam impairs our ability to communicate freely and costs Internet users billions of dollars annually. You do not have to put up with it: your best recourse is to protest to those who dump their trash on your disk drives!

Organizations such as The Anti SPAM League give you the chance to report spamming companies and individuals and access valuable information on how to control the spam problem. The Anti SPAM League serves as a resource to identify companies on the internet that are safe to do business with. Also, to target which companies are trying to capture your personal information for the use of unsolicited mass marketing. Take a step forward in the battle against spam. Learn how to become a member for free by visiting www.Anti-Spam-League.org.

Anti Spam League
The purpose of the Anti SPAM League is to help consumers and business owners reduce the amount of SPAM they receive. In addition, our Anti SPAM organization believes that educating site owners in the area of SPAM prevention and ways to successfully and responsibly market their sites, is key in making a difference.

We all hate spam and get way too much of it – agreed? Now that we have that out of the way it is important to realize that in everyone’s zest to minimize their spam, we are deleting legitimate e-mails – and those e-mail could be YOUR business messages! Two factors are at play - not reviewing your trash before you empty it and sending e-mail with indicators that trip spam filters.

When sending business e-mail, it is critical that you make certain efforts so that your e-mail will not be inadvertently, incorrectly perceived as spam. Several times each day, legitimate e-mail makes its way into my Junk/Trash due to the sender doing or not doing certain things that trigger most spam filters. These are issues you need to be aware of so that your e-mail has its best chance to make it to its intended party.

Your initial contact and making sure your e-mail gives the perception of a serious business entity can make the difference between being read or being trashed. Here is a simple checklist of things you need to put in practice so that your e-mails are not mistakenly identified as spam and deleted before read:

=> Always include an appropriate, short and accurate SUBJECT:. Many times spam does not have a SUBJECT: or it is malformed without appropriate text. Many e-mail programs automatically send subjectless e-mail to Junk/Trash. You also want to avoid using the words: hello, hi, help, new or the recipient’s name or e-mail address as doing so can trigger spam filters.

=> Refrain from using common terms abused by spammers in your subject and/or first paragraph of your email. You know what they are - you see them every day. Many spam filters track these terms and may inadvertently send your email right to Trash.

=> Type your subject with appropriate capitalization and structure. All small case or all caps gives the impression of being spam (and lack of online savvy/education).

=> Make sure your full name, not your e-mail address, is formally displayed in the FROM: field. Example: Jane A. Doe is correct – not jane a doe, or Jane or janeadoe@yourisp.com. FROM: fields with all lower case, only your first name or lack of punctuation indicates a lack of online savvy that is typical of most spammers which signals that your e-mail could also be spam. Not using your last name gives the impression you have something to hide. You always want to use your full and formal name in all business e-mail.

=> Refrain from using any formatting just for the sake of doing so. Formatting can also trigger spam filters if not done properly. Think company letterhead. If you wouldn’t have your name in big, blue, bolded letters on company letterhead do not do it in your business e-mail.

=> Unannounced attachments are viewed suspiciously. Do not send attachments without a specific request to do so and they are expected. If you are going to send attachments over 200K, show extraordinary courtesy and ask the other side FIRST when would be the best time to send your collateral. Then follow through and send it at that prearrange time so the recipient on the other side is available to download your files and keep their inbox clear.

=> When using any sort of spam software or filtering system, before you purge your trash, it doesn’t hurt to take a quick peak to see if any e-mail is in fact from folks you know or recognize.

By keeping the above issues in mind, you have the best chance of your e-mail getting to the person on the other side and for business e-mail that could make the difference between making a sale – or not.

About the Author:
Judith Kallos is an authoritative and good-humored Technology Muse who has played @ http://www.TheIStudio.com for over a decade. Check out her popular Netiquette site @: http://www.NetManners.com

You are familiar with the software applications that you run on your computer, but you may not be familiar with the dozens of programs running in the background on your computer. These programs, called "services" handle tasks like event logging, spooling files to the printer, and networking. One of these services, the Messenger Service, can be reconnoitered by spammers.

The original purpose of the Messenger Service was to allow system administrators to send a message to some or all of the users on a network. The message appears in a popup window to alert the users. Messenger Service is not instant-messaging. It does not allow the users to respond.

All Windows versions install Messenger Service and turn it on by default. A program freely available from the Internet allows spammers to control the Messenger Service on hundreds of thousands of computers on the Web. Users receive popup spam windows that are not generated by the website they are visiting.

If your computer is on a network behind a firewall, or you have a firewall application installed on your computer, it can be configured to block access to the Messenger Service. Most firewalls are configured by default to block access to the Messenger Service. If not, configure your firewall to block port 135, the port used by Messenger Service.

Microsoft, in their ignorance of computer security, likes to leave "back doors" to your computer open. But they finally wised up and Windows XP Service Pack 2 turns off the Messenger Service. If you are running Windows XP, your best bet would be to install Service Pack 2 to turn off the Messenger Service and close several other security holes.

If you are running Windows 2000, you can turn off the Messenger Service manually. Select "Run…" in the Start menu and in the "Open:" text box type services.msc, then click on the "OK" button. In the "Services" window that appears, right-click on "Messenger". In the "Properties" dialog box that appears, click on the "Stop" button and then in the "Startup Type" drop-down list select "Disabled". Then click on the "OK" button.

If you are running Windows NT, select "Services" in the "Adminstrative Tools" utility. Then disable the Messenger Service as described above. If you are running Windows 95/98/Me, you can’t disable Messenger Service, you need to remove it. Use the "Add/Remove Programs" utility in Control Panel to view the details of "System Tools". Uncheck the box next to "WinPopUp".

Now, with the Messenger Service on your computer disabled or removed, spammers will have to go back to annoying you the old fashion way - with spam email.

–

Permission is granted for the below article to forward, reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and the byline, copyright, and the resource box below is included.

About The Author

Copyright(C)2004 Bucaro TecHelp. To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com. To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter Send a blank email to subscribe@bucarotechelp.com

I imagine you have seen, heard about, or already know what spam is. But just in case you don’t, it is unsolicited and unwanted emails that arrive in your email inbox from a person or company that you don’t know.

What you might not know, however, is that now there is a law in the USA designed to protect you from specific types of spam – yes, there is more than one type of spam — the variety and methods used are shocking.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has created a law called The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 to pursue, fine, and prosecute blatant and persistent “spammers”.

Furthermore, the Department of Justice (DOJ) works actively to shutdown or fine offending web sites or emailers by enforcing this relatively new anti-spam law.

Unfortunately, the sheer volume and different types of spam require … …you, the reader, to have available in your hands, a proven solution for defending yourself and your computer from the onslaught of spam email. You might be asking yourself: But, Gary, how can I defend myself when there is so much spam everyday?”

Well, I’m glad you asked.

The solution that I am talking about is new, really works, and is called …

…Internet Self Defense: How to Protect Yourself While On The Internet.

This well-written and information-filled handbook provides no nonsense solutions that you can implement immediately to solve not only problems with spam but also problems that concern …

…“Phishing” Scams,

…Online Transaction Security,

…Spam,

…Doing Business Online,

…“Spyware”,

…Security Products, and

…Internet Fraud.

Plus this book shows “real” examples of the

…Department Of Justice Response, and “how to”

…File Complaints.

If you want to quickly and permanently stop these “Internet Bad Guys”, then you need to get your personal copy of this unique handbook at an incredibly low introductory price – but only for a limited time. Get not only yourself a copy, but also a copy for those that you care about, as … …an excellent gift for –

Christmas 2004

New Year’s Day 2005
Valentine’s Day 2005
A Loved One’s Birthday, Now or in 2005
Mother’s Day 2005
Father’s Day 2005
Easter 2005

But remember, don’t wait, this price is introductory, so can get this great book now while the “price is right”. Okay?

Enough said.

I would also like to invite you to subscribe “directly” to my newsletter, Dollarsforever Ezine at Subscribe

Dollarsforever ezine is designed to increase your financial literacy with respect to earning, saving, and investing your hard-earned money. It is my hope that you will enjoy and use the practical information contained in each month’s ezine. Finally, these ezines are kept as concise as possible out of respect for your busy lifestyle.

By Gary E. Cain
Author & Publisher
www.dollarsforever.com

About The Author

© 2004 Dollarsforever.com — All rights reserved worldwide

Gary Cain is a business teacher and Internet marketer. He is the author of Stop the Grammar! as well as Internet Self Defense the only internet book of its kind designed to help fight spam, fraud, information theft, and clone web sites.

Both of these books can be found at … http://www.dollarsforever.com.

Subscribe to Gary’s straight forward, easy-to-understand Dollarsforever Ezine about financial literacy, saving, investing, and earning money.

***Webmasters: You may post this information on your web site, but you must keep this “ownership” box and the information contained herein unchanged.

garyecain@yahoo.com.br

Why do so many people think I need to take Viagra? I guess it’s for the same reason others believe I want to re-finance my home, invest in a new stock and sell my business.

Like you, I routinely receive more junk emails than legitimate ones. Do I look stupid or do they really think I want the latest virus by opening any attachment which accompanies an unsolicited email? Aren’t there laws against spamming and why don’t they work? Perhaps these are questions for other articles. What you need to know now is that I have found a way to keep unwanted emails from ever seeing your inbox.

For the past year I have been using a program called “Boxtrapper”. Until this time I had been relying on various spam filters that used keywords or other factors to determine if an email was spam. The success rate for this type of filtering varied as spammers eventually found ways around the “formula” being used by the filter. For example, the word “Valium” may be flagged as a spam indicator while the misspelled version, “Va Lium”, would get by unnoticed. This is just one of many examples of how spammers manipulate words to beat filtering. The biggest problem is when spammers “spoof” the header information in an email so it’s nearly impossible to trace who sent the message. I have even seen instances of people receiving spam emails that appear to have come from themselves!

When you try to beat the spammers on this level you quickly find yourself running in circles and sadly realizing this is an ineffective way to guard against every spam email. A friend suggested I try “Boxtrapper” because it had eliminated ALL spam from his inbox. Since I have many email accounts, I decided to try it on my personal address and test its effectiveness. Immediately I could see the difference.

The reason “Boxtrapper” is so effective is because of it’s “opt-in” design. Basically, no email can reach you unless the sender has confirmed they are legitimate. Once they have been confirmed, their email address is added to a “whitelist”. I’m sure you’ve heard the term “blacklist”, which is used to filter out names. In this case a whitelist is maintained to show who is allowed to email you.

To better understand how “Boxtrapper” works, I will explain what happens when a legitimate email from a friend comes your way. First, when a friend sends you an email, he will automatically receive an email reply (known as an “auto response”). This email will tell him to simply hit his “Reply” button and resend in order to be added to your list of accepted senders. You can fully customize the auto response message so it reads exactly how you prefer.

For example, this is how my auto response reads:

————————————————————

Hello,

Since I get way too much spam, I have enabled a feature on my email account which requires verification that you are the real sender.

To complete this verification, simply reply to this message and leave the subject line intact.

Once you are added to my "whitelist" of accepted senders I will receive your message and you will not have to complete another verification.

————————————————————–

You can also enter the email addresses of all your friends, family, and business contacts ahead of time so they never receive the initial auto response. If you subscribe to newsletters or receive monthly statements from your bank you can add their return addresses into your whitelist so you never miss a message. If anyone else happens to email you, all they have to do is reply to the auto response and they are added to your whitelist. At any given time you are able to view a list of emails awaiting verification (known as a “queue”). You can manually allow emails through to your Inbox or wait until they are verified.

Now the big question – what happens to all the spam? Since spammers are not going to verify they received your auto response, all spam email will be caught in your queue of emails awaiting verification and never proceed to your inbox. This means the only emails you are going to receive are those by approved senders. You will soon find that most emails awaiting verification are unsolicited, junk emails.

Since enabling “Boxtrapper” on one of my personal email addresses it has completely eliminated all incoming spam. I know many who use this feature and they are extremely pleased with not having to waste time sorting through and deleting unsolicited emails. While most spam filters use complex formulas to find out if an email is garbage, “Boxtrapper” is able to quickly determine if the sender is real. So, how can you start making this feature work for you?

Because “Boxtrapper” is not sold in stores or a program you can readily download and install on your computer, it’s one of the best kept secrets on the web. This feature is normally bundled with other email services provided by either your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or website host (most likely, the latter). By the way, I don’t have any stock in “Boxtrapper”. For some reason, they never sent me an email asking me to invest.

Copyright 2005 Anthony Vita

Anthony Vita started his own successful web hosting business, Web Feat, Inc, in 1997. Since then, Anthony has been helping businesses and individuals worldwide to achieve an online presence. Contact Anthony today by email: avita@webfeathost.com or the web: http://www.webfeathost.com

A typical day at the inbox

Today, I received 374 emails total.

A pretty light day considering some days I get more than 1,000.

To clarify what they were35 were for business, 4 were personal in nature, 11 were from groups I asked to get information from like Neiman Marcus and Urban Outfitters, VH1, and a PR Newsletter.

The balance of 324 was unsolicited (UCEunsolicited commercial email)in other words spam.

If I extrapolate the UCE I’ve gotten in the last six hours alone, I find I must be missing something about myself on some spiritual level..

I am a balding, fat man with a small penis that doesn’t work. I am in debt.

I am looking for a lower interest rate on my mortgage while at the same time making thousands of dollars with no effort on my part in the privacy of my own home—filling out surveys, stuffing envelopes and not selling something that miraculously sells itself.

Even better, I can be a travel agent without wrinkles; obtain a college degree while waiting for my 1500 advance to show up in my bank account; I can restore my credit rating legally while watching my free satellite TV and munching on my drugs sent courtesy of an offshore pharmacy that has a doctor who will write me a prescription… HMMM…definitely something to consider. NOT.

I’ve also discovered that I am a prime candidate to help an African Prince transfer funds into the US. He trusts me. All I have to do is give him my bank account information.

The problem is that I am a woman who doesn’t suffer those ills. Someone thinks I do…There is something wrong with this picture.

The future of bulk email and why it is likely to remain dead

Now, you might be asking why I, who was dubbed the “Spam Queen” in the “Wall Street Journal” three years ago, am even bothering to say anything about email?

Just to set the record straight, I have never advocated spam or sending spam.

One reporter said to me, "Some people consider all bulk email as spam. What do you have to say about that?" to which I replied, "Then I guess you’d call me the spam queen," as a joke.

In our sound byte media world, one editor turned this little quip into a buzzword and I became known almost instantly, all over the world, as representing what everyone, including myself, hates about email.

The media as usual emphasized sensationalism and missed the point.

I am not complaining because my marketing business skyrocketed as a result.

At that time I advocated email as a very effective medium for small business, which because of its low cost lets small businesses level the playing field against big corporations.

At no small personal risk, I visited the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, DC, and spoke my peace about small businesses and not throwing out the baby with the bathwater before even the very term spam could be legally agreed upon and defined to the satisfaction of marketers, ISPs and the government jointly.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of the US economy, and entrepreneurs with their dreams are what have made the US the economic powerhouse it still is today.

Email that is sent to people who WANT to receive it, and that is in accordance with their preferences, still gets a high response. It allows many small businesses to get ahead. I didn’t want to see big corporations or the government take over email and bar entry, filter, and extort everyone else while still sending their own advertising messages freely.

And then came the CanSpam act, which I and many other legitimate marketers welcomed, because it had a great promise of getting rid of the noise while keeping the signal.

As it turned out, the opposite happened. Email filters from ISP’s now block a large amount of legitimate messages, which they call "false positives".

Marketers can’t send the text they would like to send to their subscribers, so they have to resort to filter tricking tactics such as spelling the word spam as sp@@@M so that they can get past the filters that were intended for another purpose entirely.

In a climate like this, legitimate companies that had been diligently following best practices, and keeping their lists clean for years, suddenly did not want to stay in business with ambiguities in the law and the potential litigation that might ensue even if all the rules WERE followed, so many companies just folded.

However the people that continue to send email illegally did not fold.

Often times sending from outside the US borders, they stepped up their operations even more, to the point that there is almost no truly legitimate bulk email left.

In other words, the signal has become lost in the noise.

The simplicity is this — bulk commercial email has gotten to the point where it isn’t effective. We just don’t do it anymore. What’s the point? It doesn’t get a response, and we found people are overloaded with advertising messages and no longer willing to receive more, especially in their inbox, unless they specifically asked for it.

As a marketing professional, the only thing that should count for you at the end of the day is effectiveness. Bulk commercial email has turned into the above, a bunch of unprofessional, ineffective scams.

In other words, Spam is a fourletter word.

Legitimate marketers are staying away in droves and it’s easy to see why. First of all let’s look at some facts. In the United States, it is legal to send unsolicited commercial email. The CAN SPAM act allows for this. You have to provide a way to optout and not hide who you are, and a few more simple but ethical rules.

Although it is legal, there isn’t an internet service provider in the United States who will allow you to send unsolicited commercial email.

Larger mailers have optin information from lists they purchase which imply consent but those lists aren’t originated from the mailer, but from other submailers—you get a free thing or access to a particular site and the user checks a box that it is okay to get information from their “affiliates and partners.”

The “affiliates and partners” they are referring to are those who pay for the email addresses and optin information.

These guys are sending you mail legally, but the fact is, they are not getting into your email box for the most part. Blocking, filtering, and doing it the “legal” way bulk wise, is just not working.

Not to mention, there is no way to prove that the recipients opted in or are willing to get the message since they opted in at someone else’s site, not yours.

The response rate is pathetic and when that mail does get through, you have many disgruntled individuals who never remember opting in, so in their view, the mail is unsolicited. The only way to get email into inboxes en masse is by not following the rules, so the only messages getting through are the scams, including the pornographic, illegal, and objectionable.

It is ironic that the very thing people want to rail against, they are getting more of in the aftermath of CanSpam.

So where does that leave us?

What can a small businessperson do to get their message out, and not break their bank?

How to market effectively in the new internet wave

If you are a small businessperson, there are 3 alternatives that you should consider, which are described in this next section:

What is effective you might ask? (Ask away, it’s kind of the point here..)

1) First party offers that impart some value added (a tip; some information, something the consumer is interested in.)

Lets say John Q. Consumer gave his email address for a newsletter, or for more information on a particular subject, or to play a game.

Chances are he probably would not be angered to get an email from your company especially since he asked for you to contact him. He would recognize your domain name since he spent enough time on your site to actually ask the info.

Additionally, your internet service provider would not shut you down for violations and you’d start to build a small but effective list of people who are actually interested in what you, as a business owner, have to say.

This has been effective since the beginning of the internet. The only problem is, how do you reach people the first time, to get them to your site?

How do you find a target market for your products that is likely to be interested in what you have to offer and sign up for your newsletter, visit your site, and hopefully buy your stuff?

Is there anything less costly than television, radio, and (ugh!) banner ads?

Yes there is. Drum roll please…..Search Engine Marketing. If you write good ads, and compete with the right keywords, people who are already searching for an answer to a question, doing research, comparison shopping will go to a search engine and type in their parameters.

If you know how to market well, only people who are interested will go to your site.

If you have a web site that is compelling and you are offering a value added, they will ask for more information or sign up for your newsletter, or get your free download.

Now, getting to this point can sometimes take a little time, but if you are persistent, and know how to interpret your statistics, you can do this. If you want the result without the learning curve, hire a Search Engine Marketing Firm.

So the new tools for small businesspeople to stampede traffic to their websites in 2005 and beyond are going to be:

1) Search Engine Marketing

2) Publicity, including press releases that provide meaningful news

3) Providing quality content and expert commentary for radio, TV, and internet hubs in your field

You can be successful on the internet and these tools help to establish you as an expert in your field, as well as attract the very people who are looking for your product or service at the same time.

These are the tools of a new form of marketing, which people are calling "In Touch" Marketing, or "intelligent marketing" and is one way to cut through and actually get you the most possible business, at the lowest possible cost, with laser precise targeting. In future articles I will teach you how to use them with deadly precision.

This is the new way for small businesses and entrepreneurs to succeed in 2005 and beyond.

Remember, you heard it here first

Laura Betterly
CEO, In Touch Media Group
http://intouchmediagroup.com
laura@intouchmediagroup.com

Laura Betterly is the CEO of In Touch Media Group, (OTC:ITOU) and has successfully launched many ebusinesses for herself and others

More information is available at http://www.intouchmediagroup.com

Every one of us knows how spam impacts us. Every day we either get a ton of spam - or if we’re fairly well protected by spam filters - only a few pieces.

Like a large number of people, I don’t use any spam filters. Ah. You think I’m insane. But wait. My problem is that I get a lot of email from marketing types which I want to receive. And the spam filtering software is not very sensitive to my needs. Even white-listing doesn’t always work. So, I prefer to get all that spam and just delete it.

Now this solution can work for me despite the time it takes to delete my daily overdose of spam. However, at the enterprise level, it’s a whole different story. If you have a relatively large internal network with even a modest number of email users, you’re looking at a major problem. And the more users you have, the worse the problem is.

Sure, you can put up software on the mail server. Works, kind of. But pretty soon you may find you need to upgrade the mail server. And that’s after you already put it on a stand-alone machine.

Rather than continuing to buy ever more expensive software to run on a machine that keeps needing to be upgraded, you might want to think about a dedicated anti spam appliance.

To give you some idea of what’s possible let’s take a look at Barracuda Networks dedicated anti spam appliance. All you need to do is put this baby in front of your mail server. I say baby, advisedly because this one will learn by doing and by training provided by your users.

Dean Drako, CEO of Barracuda Networks said, "Bayesian filtering is still one of the most accurate defenses against spam. The new plug-ins allow users to directly train the Bayesian filter, making the Barracuda Spam Firewall even more accurate based on the users individual email preferences. Viruses and other threats can infect the network quickly if they are not stopped at the network edge. With Intent Analysis our customers have an advantage over these threats because the Barracuda Spam Firewall is able to block them real time. Consequently we have consistently been a first responder when some of the most malicious virus attacks have hit, saving our customers from potentially devastating damage to their networks."

This is one beautiful little machine. A Barracuda Spam Firewall can support from 1,000 to 30,000 active users. It can usually be installed in less than five minutes and receives automatic hourly updates for new forms of spam and viruses. It has a 10 layer defense system beyond the use of open source anti spam and anti virus solutions: denial of service and security protection, IP block list, rate control, virus check with archive decompression, proprietary virus check, user specified rules, spam fingerprint check, Intent Analysis, spam rule-based scoring, and Bayesian analysis. Plus it also does both inbound and outbound email filtering with the inclusion of sophisticated outbound email filtering techniques (just in case you’ve got a spam zombie on board or somebody’s got an infected PC).

However, it isn’t exactly cheap. Still, when you consider the time, bandwidth, user frustration and potential hardware upgrade costs, the price may look a lot more reasonable. You can check it out at http://www.barracudanetworks.com/

If you are in the market for an anti-spam appliance, the Barracuda Spam Firewall isn’t your only choice. The impact of spam on internet businesses - even those who primarily use it for just email - is so great that a simple search for "anti spam appliance" will find you a number of alternatives to examine. Even McAfee is getting into the anti spam hardware game.

I’m hoping that it won’t be too long before I can pick up a Bayesian multi-level anti spam, anti virus firewall appliance for my home PC that keeps me safe and cuts my need to delete without deep-sixing the email I want or costing me more than I can afford. I suspect it’s on the way.

Copyright 2005 Richard Keir

Richard writes in a variety of areas involving eBusiness and the internet. For more on spam visit http://anti-spam.werkz.org and for general eCommerce go to http://building-ecommerce-websites.com

Well it finally happened as predicted the SPIT is here; that is to say “SPAM over IP Telephony.” Yes indeed, they have found a way to send you VoIP SPAM and you thought you had some good news by saving a bunch of money on your long distance telephone bill, didn’t you? Well, guess what there are no Do Not SPIT Lists at the FTC and you would not want to be on one anyway, as the SPAM’ers would only use the list to fill up your voice mail?

Can’t we’ “Just say no to SPIT?” Well, we wish it were that easy, but it isn’t as there is no formal definition of what SPIT is? And hence there are no regulations. The Federal Trade Commission says they are working quickly to come up with a definition, but there will need to be public hearings, committees, mission statements and the like. Then a set of regulations on SPIT can be introduced? If this really makes your blood boil you are not alone and it could get worse. If SPIT comes in SPIT-wads, that is to say batches of unwanted SPIT, then you could lose disruptions of 1-2 seconds as it comes in on your phone call. Plus you might have anywhere from 40-100 SPIT per day of junk voice mails, which you will have to listen to the beginning and then delete?

Companies providing VoIP cannot block all the SPIT otherwise they might block your legitimate phone calls. “Oh Bob, I never got your voice mail, I though it was a bunch of SPIT, so I erased it, sorry I missed the meeting and presentation and you lost the $200,000 deal!” Looks like VoIP is a little more complicated than we thought? Think on this.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Spyware and Adware viruses have rapidly become the number one threat to your computer with over 90% of computers already infected. These include "Trojans", Web Bugs, Advertiser Software, Monitoring Software and more. Fortunately there are good spyware protection and adware spyware virus removal tools available. Sorting through them all to find the right one is a challenging task and an important decision to make.

Consequences From Spyware: hijacked browsers, reset home pages, changed search results, spam emails sent to you, slow browsers, toolbars added to your browser, and many more.

You Need To Understand What Spyware Is!

Spyware and Adware, also called "Malware", are files made by publishers that allow them to snoop on your browsing activity, see what you purchase and send you "pop-up" ads. They can slow down your PC, cause it to crash, record your credit card numbers and worse. If you’re like most Internet users, chances are you’re probably infected with these files. Simply surfing the Internet, reading email, downloading music or other files can infect your PC without you knowing it.

Q. So What is Spyware?

A. Spyware are individual programs that embed themselves within your computer and monitor your internet browsing activites. They can spy on your confidential information (passwords, credit card info, etc).

Q. What is Adware?

A. Adware are software applications that display advertising banners and popups. If you get inundated with popups chances are you have been infected by Adware.

Q. What is Malware?

A. It is the short term for malicious software. Malware are more commonly referred as viruses, trojans, and worms.

Q. What is a Trojan virus?

A. A Trojan virus is software that breaks through computer security and disguises itself as something benign (harmless).

Q. What are Computer Viruses?

A. Destructive programs that disrupt the normal functioning of computer systems.

Is Your Computer Infected?

This is no longer something that you only see in sci-fi movies - spyware can attack anyone! If you’ve downloaded some music, files or documents and suddenly started getting annoying ads popping up on your screen, you could definitely be infected with spyware and/or adware software! Anyone who visits corrupt websites (you won’t know you have), clicks on deceptive popups or views a spam email message is vulnerable. Simply put, if you’re online, you’re at risk.

The Short Summary: Is your PC running slower than usual? Are you getting popup ads and do not know where they are coming form? Then you could have spyware software running on your computer without your knowledge.

The Solution: choosing an anti spyware software protection program immediately, to eliminate the threat to your computer, files, sensitive information and peace of mind.

Joe Borges helps you to keep your computer files safe. To learn the essential steps to protecting your computer and files on the internet and get a free trial spyware scan, visit our Detect Spyware website. Joe Borges is an Internet Marketer and Online Business Owner with experience in web development and implementation. He is also a professional SEO Consultant, helping internet businesses increase their web presence, website traffic and Search Engine Ranking. Get essential tips, tools and strategies that you can use right now to protect your computer and your most sensitive information by visiting: http://www.alertcomputer.com

By now you probably read a myriad of articles on how governments and technology masters are proposing to fight, reduce and/or eliminate spam, also known as electronic junk-mail. I don’t even have to start this article with the habitual introduction on ‘what is spam’, because I am certain you already know it and hate it. This article will not go into the questionable implementation and use of commercially available tools and technologies. Instead, I will touch on very basic common sense techniques that can efficiently reduce the amount of spam. This article is particularly useful for all those who intend to start an e-commerce business, or just put up a website, for fun or profit.

Fact #1:

Spam is here to stay. Whatever you hear from government officials, from Bill Gates, from software vendors, from PhDs in technology, the crude fact is, as one cannot stop the internet, one cannot stop spam in the cyberspace that exists today. Period – end of story.

Fact #2:

The volume and the offensive nature of the questionable practice of email spamming is increasing at an exponential rate, as I’m reading in reports published by statistics gurus such as Gartner. What do we do about it? The short answer is that there is no 100% fool-proof solution. However, implementing the suggestions and techniques that I will share with you in this article, can definitely help reduce it.

Tip #1:

Never publish your e-mail address on your web site.

The primary way that spammers obtain your e-mail address is through the use of spambots, or spiders (technical term for automated programs that run over the internet), that scour the web searching for the ubiquitous @ sign - the telltale indicator of an e-mail address. These spiders search your web page and harvest everything that looks like it might be an e-mail address. Then, the spammer will add the obtained addresses to a large list and, will use it to promote some obscene and/or bogus product or service. Lastly, the spammer will sell the list to other spammers and/or resellers and your email address will start perpetually circulating.

The only way to avoid having your address harvested in this way is not to publish it there in the first place.

Of course, you probably do want potential customers and other visitors to be able to contact you. At first glance, Tip #1 might seem self-defeating, but there is an alternative – read on!

Tip #2:

Use Mail Forms Instead of listing and/or linking to the actual, explicit email address.

The specifics of setting email forms (also referred to as web forms, mail forms, cgi forms) are not in the scope of this article, only because every web host uses various pieces of software, written in various programming languages to achieve this. Basically, the way it works is, your visitor gets to a page, fills up a few boxes with text, hits a “Submit” button, then the mail form processor sends you an email. Your email address can still be grabbed by persistent spammers, since it is usually hidden in the page, but there are several stealth techniques that I will discuss in detail in a different article. Also, most web hosting companies implement automatic spambot deterring techniques that you can take advantage of by merely using their hosting services.

Tip #3:

Never follow the "unsubscribe instructions" contained in a spam e-mail.

Spammers often use bogus "unsubscribe instructions" to verify that your e-mail address is working. Following these bogus instructions will most likely result in your e-mail address being added to even more spam lists. Basically, the spammer now knows that the address that probably came from a scrape or from some unverified list or from a random generator is actually a valid one, there’s a person out there who got it and responded back. Your address will now be marked as "premium" on the black market and will become even more circulated, sold and used.

You can make one single exception to this rule, in the case when you know for sure that you subscribed to someone’s newsletter voluntarily, and that someone is a reputable company that you trust 100%.

Tip #4:

Don’t forward chain-letters, virus warnings, etc.

Most chain letters and virus warnings that you receive by e-mail are either hoaxes, or they are initiated by spam houses for the intent of getting every email address you know. Chain letters spread like wildfire and always tend to end up right back at the spam house, with the email address of everyone it was sent to. Before you take any action regarding an unsolicited virus warning, check the validity of the warning at http://www.sarc.com/, and/or http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/, and/or http://www.mcafee.com/us/security/vil.htm. I’ve never received a virus warning by e-mail that didn’t turn out to be a hoax; and many of these hoaxes advise you to delete key system files that will end up damaging your computer (and the computers of all your friends that you forwarded the bogus warning to.)

Tip #5.

Use POP E-mail Accounts & E-Mail Fowarding Creatively.

Another popular way of harvesting e-mail addresses is through your own correspondence. Every time you purchase something online or e-mail a company or organization, your e-mail address is available for addition to a mailing list. Don’t put too much faith in the privacy statements of web sites that you don’t have experience with. Spammers make their living by theft and deception - they’re certainly not beyond providing false information in their privacy statements.

Usually, when you purchase web hosting, all of your accounts come with some free e-mail forwarding and some free additional POP e-mail accounts.You can use these features to your advantage in your fight against spam:

First, create a new POP user just for the purpose of collecting spam. Call it anything you want, for example, unused@yourdomain.com - you’re never going to use it for anything but collecting spam.

Now, take a look at the spam you’re receiving and notice the address it’s being sent to. In many cases, spammers grab your domain name and just make up addresses to attach to it (info@yourdomain.com, sales@yourdomain.com, admin@yourdomain.com, webmaster@yourdomain.com are among the most popular). When you notice spam addressed to an e-mail address that you do not need for regular business or personal use, create an email forward that redirects mail sent to that address to the spam-catching POP account you created in the preceding step.

The spammers often harvest addresses from the domain name WHOIS system, grabbing your administrative, billing, and technical contact e-mail addresses to add to their lists. Use a unique e-mail forward for your contact information, and when the spam begins to arrive at that address, change your domain name record to reflect a new forwarded address, and redirect the old address to the spam-catcher POP.

Whenever you order a product or service online, create a unique e-mail forward for the company you’re ordering from. For example, if you’re ordering a CD from amazon.com, use amazon@yourdomain.com when you register with them (don’t forget to replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name; and don’t forget to create an e-mail forward to deliver mail to a valid POP account.) This approach provides two benefits: 1) it allows you to redirect that address to your spam-catcher if you start receiving spam; and 2) it will let you know who’s selling your personal information to spammers - you can then decide whether those companies are deserving of your trust and future business.

[NOTE: Eventually, your spam-catcher POP account will fill up and exceed its quota, as allocated by your hosting provider. When this happens, e-mail that’s sent to that POP account will begin "bouncing back" with an error message to the sender. Don’t worry about that - it won’t hurt anything. If the spammers actually provide a valid return address (which almost none do), the bounce will serve as notice that you’re not accepting their mail.]

Tip #6.

Use spam filters.

Most reputable hosting companies use spam-filtering software and give you access to many administration features. Do your homework and check the features that came with your account.

Spam filters compare incoming mail against several "spam blacklists" and automatically delete e-mail sent from any source included on any of those lists. Please note that blacklists and spam filters in general are not perfect - there’s not a filtering product available on the market that won’t 1) occasionally let spam slip through and get delivered, and worse, 2) occasionally reject valid e-mail as spam. Note that any mail deleted as a result of server-side spam filtering is not recoverable. There are other spam filtering options available to you to install locally - this gives you the choice of what to filter and what not to filter, and gives you the opportunity to recover valid e-mail that was mistakenly deleted by the filter.

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Andrei co-owns Bsleek - a company that specializes in web design, hosting, promotional items, printing, tradeshow displays, logos, CD presentations, SEO and more. Andrei has amassed an extensive technical knowledge and experience through his career as the CIO for a major travel management company and through his past careers in military research, data acquisition and airspace engineering. He also consults for Trinity Investigations, a New York based PI firm.

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Bsleek - Intelligent permission based email marketing