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North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical RE: Spam with no purpose?
On Wed, 31 Mar 2004, Michel Py wrote: > > > Deepak Jain wrote: > > Can someone explain to me (publicly or privately) why someone > > would send spam with no product to sell, no position to pitch, > > nothing except text designed to get by a spam filter -- without > > even HTML to KNOW it got by a spam filter.. I'm surprised you only got it now. I had been receiving emails like that for probably at least a year. > Likely two different goals here: > > 1. Reduce the efficiency of Bayesian-like filters: Trouble with this > kind of email is that they are a) of sufficient length b) contain only > "real" words c) contain none of the words regularly used by spammers > such as the v. word. Have to agree, this foremost the reason. Its interesting however that spammers are doing it not for their own companies specific interest but for interest of their spamming industry in general > You can bet that it won't be long until we see such messages that not > only use only dictionary words, but furthermore are constructed with a > valid grammar (and still mean nothing). I already saw it. Right now its just random phrases being put together and not yet entire text. And somewhere (actually several years ago), I've read of AI program capable of creating complete stories when its given some key phrases to start with, would not be surprised if same or similar algorithms began to be used. Personally I do not believe that bayesian filtering (or text filtering in general) is the way to fight spam, there is too much chance of filtering false positives along the way (and it is only increasing as spammers are is evident by what is discussed in this thread). Its better to focus on authentication of the source source and of trust mechanisms for legitimate mail senders. Spammers have a problem taht they are often operating against the laws or policies of their providers and they have to try to hide their identity and the mechanisms they use for that can be identified and loopholes closed as much as possible. -- William Leibzon Elan Networks [email protected]
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