Email has been an extremely popular communication method over the Internet for years. Email is used to send both personal messages and company messages; it is also used for verifying accounts and for sending notification messages from web sites and other on-line services. Although email is useful for many reasons, however, most people have seen numerous unwanted and unsolicited e-mail messages, which are generally referred to as spam, in addition to the desired legitimate messages.
Although legitimate e-mails are sent through legitimate means, spam e-mails are sent in mass quantities and in many cases are sent to recipients who did not request them to be sent. In many cases, spam e-mails promote products, services, scams and/or malicious content. When you understand what spam e-mails are and why they exist, then you will be able to better manage your e-mail inbox and minimize the potential problems caused by unwanted messages.
What is Spam?
Unsolicited mass e-mail messages (spam) are automated, delivered via mailing list or mass e-mailing software tools (usually in the thousands or millions), to large numbers of recipients.
The form and content of these e-mails can be as diverse as they are numerous. While some are just ads for a product or service, others offer fake or deceptive deals, include malicious or phishing links, or attempt to gather personal info from you.
Examples of common spam include:
- Advertisements for products or services
- Deals or “giveaways”
- Phishing attempts
- Soliciting money or collecting your personal data
- Links or attachments with malicious intent
Even though the volume of spam is high, since the people who send spam are paid per successful transmission, there’s enough profit to continue this type of advertising.
Why Do We Receive Spam?
There are several reasons why spam continues to be a widespread issue on the internet.
Email Addresses Are Easy to Collect
Email addresses are commonly publically posted online. These emails can appear in websites, forums, social media, or online directory listings. Software that automatically scans web pages called “email harvesters” will collect all of the publicly listed email addresses in order to send spam email.
Anytime an email address is placed into a spam email database, it may be used by one or many spammers who then sell their databases of email addresses to each other and share them.
Data Breaches and Leaked Databases
Another way that spam originates is through data breaches. In some cases, when a company’s security has been compromised (a “breach”) and they have been hacked into, an attacker could gain access to your information in order to send you unwanted emails. Sometimes these hackers will sell or give away the database of e-mail addresses they stole from a website after it has been breached. This database is often then shared with other attackers, who use this list for mass emailing. The breach itself doesn’t necessarily mean the website was a spam site; however, a breach could result in additional spam.
Marketing and Mass Email Campaigns
Spam can come in the form of a company’s or marketer’s promotional emails that were sent without the proper consent from the recipient. In most cases, legitimate businesses will use email marketing responsibly. However, less reputable businesses may send these types of messages to individuals that have never signed-up on their mailing list(s).
Many countries now have laws requiring businesses to get consent prior to sending marketing emails; however, law enforcement varies by country.
Automated Spam Systems
Modern spam operations are typically reliant upon automated systems capable of sending large quantities of emails at a fast rate. Typically these systems utilize networks of compromised computers (botnets) for sending spam messages throughout the Internet. This automation is one of the main factors why spammers can send spam to millions of inboxes while maintaining anonymity.
Risks Associated With Spam
Although some spam messages are just unwanted ads, others have the potential to be more harmful. Some types of spam are created to deceive users into providing their personal data or downloading and installing malicious software.
One type of spam message, phishing email, is a good example of this. Phishing emails will usually impersonate your bank, an on-line store, or a service you commonly use; they will also contain a link to a web site that appears to be legitimate but is actually used to collect your account log in info as well as financial information.
Some spam messages will also contain malicious attachments (malware) which will infect your computer if you open them.
These are just a couple of examples of why you should treat all unexpected emails with skepticism.
How Spam Filters Work
Most modern email providers have implemented spam filtering systems as a way to limit the amount of unwanted emails that reach user inboxes. Spam filters evaluate all aspects of incoming messages, using multiple evaluation criteria to determine if a message should be blocked from delivery.
Common filtering methods include:
- Checking whether the sender appears on known spam blacklists
- Analyzing the content of the message for suspicious patterns
- Detecting mass mailing behavior
- Using machine learning to identify spam characteristics
If a message is considered suspicious, it may be automatically placed in a spam or junk folder instead of the main inbox.
Spam filters are constantly improving, but they cannot always catch every unwanted message.
How to Reduce Spam
Eliminating spam altogether is challenging, but users can make some attempts to limit spam.
Do not share your email address with people you do not know or needlessly. If you have to provide your primary email address when registering at new, unfamiliar sites; ask yourself if this is actually needed.
Additionally, by using good security practices (unique password for each account, two factor login, etc.) you will be able to protect your accounts better from being compromised. Some users may opt to create temporary email addresses (such as Evap Mail) so they may sign up for websites that only require their email for a short period of time or just for the purpose of verifying something; this creates a barrier for spammers in regards to getting to the user’s main inbox and reduces spam the user receives long term.
Final Thoughts
Spam has existed on the Internet since the early days and will continue to be an ongoing problem for people that use e-mail all over the world. The reason that spam has continued as a profitable activity for some individuals and companies is that sending massive amounts of e-mails is cheap and easily automated.
Unlike the early days of e-mail, recent spam filtering techniques, security solutions, and consumer education have made it much easier for consumers to eliminate or block spam messages from reaching their inbox.
By learning about how spam exists and by using common sense when posting e-mail addresses online, users can help keep their inboxes clean and safe.