Lab team looking at ways to decrease junk messages "Waitress: Well, there's spam, egg, sausage, and spam; that's not got much spam in it."--- Monty Python
No doubt one of the first electronic mail messages that went across the ether once people figured out how to collect addresses into mailing lists was a clever piece of junk mail, or spam.
Today, no matter how loudly people protest their hatred of unsolicited bulk e-mail, it piles up, clogging mailboxes and networks.
"Spam is becoming an increasing administrative headache and an annoying waste of time to e-mail users at the Laboratory," said Richard Kendall, Los Alamos' Chief Information Officer (CIO).
The CIO and staff of Network Engineering (CCN-5) have assembled some advice on "What can I do about spam e-mail?" with a Web page available at http://network.lanl.gov/email/spam.shtml online.
Nearly all spam is commercial advertising sent to addresses that are found by stealing mailing lists, scanning mail groups or searching the Internet for addresses with automated search engines.
Spam goes out in such huge quantities that it can clog even the largest networks, like those at the Laboratory. Some spam is offensive, other junk mail proposes illegal activities, such as funding Nigerian bank fraud schemes. And a few spam messages contain executable computer code that could damage computers or networks.
Los Alamos blocks mail from most known sites that forward spam, which cuts out much of the junk mail before it is delivered to a lanl.gov e-mail address.
But the spammers are relentless, and most Laboratory staff have noticed an increase in spam over the past few months.
"We are working now to put up an institutional spam detector," Kendall said.
Kendall said the Laboratory is evaluating software that will mark incoming messages with a score that rates the probability that they are spam. Definite spam can be discarded right away, and employees can further screen unwanted messages by using the spam score information in their desktop filters.
Laboratory employees won't be held responsible for unsolicited e-mail, but they can take steps to reduce the flood; they can set up filters within their e-mail programs and get help with other defense tactics from the Desktop Computing (CCN-2) Help Desk at 5-4444, ext. 851.
The Web site provides some other important advice for the frustrated spam recipient:
- Don't reply to a spam message, even to ask to be removed from a spam mail list. Replying to spam serves only to validate your e-mail address and you will likely receive even more spam.
- Don't go to a Web page link in a spam message. This also will allow the spam site to validate your e-mail address and spread it around to even more spam sites.
- Don't spam the spammer. This is a game for them; they have a lot more time to spend playing than you do, and you will always be the loser.
- Don't subscribe to open mailing lists and list servers. Spammers can post to these lists and send unwanted e-mail to all members