Oggi ho subito un vero e proprio attacco spammoso: 8 email di spam nel giro di poche ore. Ho fatto partire 6 email verso diversi abuse... e tra le risposte che mi sono arrivate, c'era questa (premetto che è un pò lunga, ma magari può essere utile/illuminante):
Customers receiving spam in their mailboxes (FAQ)
1.What is "unsolicited e-mail" or "spam"?
Unsolicited e-mail is any e-mail message received where the recipient did not specifically asked to receive it. Such e-mails are often sent in bulk e-mail form and are being sent to a large number of addresses at once.
2.What should I do when I receive spam?
Here is a list of things you should do when you receive spam:
You can ask to be removed from their mailing lists, however, in most cases the spammers forge the e-mail headers, use temporary/fake accounts, among other things to avoid the complaints that follow every mailing, so when you request removal, your e-mail will bounce.
You can copy the entire header of the message and send it to SpamCop or ORDB if the headers are not forged and they can determine the source (usually an open relay mailserver) they will list it in their database. (see http://www.ordb.org or http://spamcop.net for more information). Netspace subscribes to the above service, which means our servers will not accept any e-mails from sources listed by ORDB or any of the blacklists we subscribe to. Go to http://www.netspace.net.au/helpdesk/spam/FAQ.shtml to see how you can extract headers from the e-mail. Alternatively, you can visit http://www.3dmail.com/spam. This site allows you to copy the header of the e-mail there, and it will try to track the source for you. If it does find suspicious sources it gives you an option to report them to ORDB.
Browsing filtering software such as NetNanny, Norton Internet Security etc. can help to keep your private information private, and include parental controls. Norton Internet Security also has inbuilt Firewall and Anti-Virus Software. Please visit http://www.symantec.com.au & http://www.netnanny.com for more information about the above mentioned software.
You can install some sort of e-mail filtering software that will check your incoming e-mail and automatically and delete the unwanted messages, however, please be aware that such filtering systems may occasionally delete a legitimate e-mail. For example, a bulk e-mail from a friend sending some sort of information to everyone in his/hers address book. Examples of such software are: Postal Inspector (for MS Outlook), Active E-mail Monitor etc. Go to http://tucows.netspace.net.au/spam95.html for more.
Most e-mail programs can be setup in a way that if an e-mail contains an attachment, the program will only download the header, which then enables you to decide whether you want this file or not. If not, then you can simply just delete it, and the e-mail will be removed from the server. This can save your online modem time because you're not spending your precious time by downloading large attachments, which you did not request. For instructions on how to do this go to http://www.netspace.net.au/helpdesk/spam/FAQ.shtml.
If you only receive spam once in a while, the best course of action is probably just to ignore and delete it.
3.Where do these people get my e-mail address?
There are several ways spammers can obtain your e-mail address. Some of the most common ways are:
Spammers run programs that collect e-mail addresses out of Usenet posting headers
Use web crawling programs that look for mailto: codes in HTML documents
Rip them out of online directory listings, such as "White Pages"
Buy a list from someone who already has one. Please note that Netspace does not sell e-mail addresses to anyone under any circumstances.
Take them without your knowledge when you visit their website. For the latest on web browser security issues, see http://www.cert.org
Collect member names from online "chat rooms"
4.How do I keep my e-mail address off the lists?
If you do a lot of web browsing, be careful about filling out forms, always read the "Terms & Conditions" on the site you are signing up with, so you know exactly how the information you supply will be used. Always download the latest security updates for your software, especially the browser. If you post to newsgroups or use IRC and you don't necessarily want to be contacted via e-mail it may be a good idea to use a fake address or a different e-mail address, such as Hotmail.
5. Can Netspace block spam?
Netspace subscribes to SpamCop, ORDB and DSBL services to minimise the amount of spam coming into our system, which prevents well known spam sources (open relays) from sending to our users. Please see http://spamcop.net, http://www.ordb.org and http://dsbl.org for more information about these services. These databases contain over 200,000 known sources of spam, and they process 150 to 300 million e-mails daily. Unfortunately, some spammers still manage get through the system by faking e-mail headers, which makes it almost impossible to track them.
To show you how effective our system is here are some stats. Netspace delivers about 70,000 messages daily, on average. About 5000 are being rejected because they are blacklisted with SpamCop, ORDB or DSBL. That's 7.1% of all e-mail going through our system. As you can see the system works very effectively and we are doing the best we can to fight it.
If you're not a Netspace customer please send e-mail to abuse-team@netspace.net.au
