Comments for What's this spam-fighting technique called?

Comment from Glenn P. on 2008-06-10

2008-06-10T18:43:08Z

My technique is to use my ISP's mail filters to label (prefix) all suspected Spam with "***SPAM*** ", and to whitelist those people and services I use or communicate with regularly. I still have to scan my Inbox, but the labelling segregates the Spam (my Inbox is sorted) and makes verification (i.e., correction of any false positives) and deletion MUCH faster and easier. I'll add that my ISP's spam filters seem quite good -- I get perhaps 80 Spam per day, and I'd say I get a false-positive no more often than once in 2,500 messages. I could probably get away with having my ISP auto-delete my Spam, but I check them instead, on general principles, as I'd FAR rather put up with minor the annoyance of giving the Spam a quick once-over before consigning them to oblivion to missing even one single E-Mail that I genuinely want to receive.

The rare false-positive is usually some service I've just signed up for. I simply copy the sender's address, paste it into the mail filters and set it to whitelist, and Bing! no more false positive (for that sender)! Now, it is true that my whitelist has grown to about 150 entries -- and I must STILL scan my Inbox! -- so I can see why some people will think me an idiot. :) But maintaining that whitelist still makes dealing with Spam much easier, and I am quite satisfied.

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Comment from Mark S on 2008-06-08

2008-06-08T14:52:53Z

I use Digiportal's Choice Mail--a challenge/response whitelist program. The simple truth is that NOTHING works except challenge/response in conjunction with whitelisting. Without c/r, all that happens is you are forced to constantly check the junk box. You're back to sorting email. Without whitelisting, you're at the mercy of rules-based spam programs that are either too inclusive (false positives) or too lax (too much spam gets through). Digiportal has had its issues over the years--including the addition of some rules to go with the whitelisting. (I just delete the rules since it is contrary to the fundamental concept of the program.) But unlike most other challenge/response programs, you can actually BUY the program without having to pay monthly fees.

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A comment on: What's this spam-fighting technique called?

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Comment from Eli Coten on 2008-06-07

2008-06-07T22:37:22Z

Additionally, the specific example of C/R asked about in the question sounds very easy to program a bot to bypass. How difficult it is to create an email bot to put a word from an email into the subject - especially as these emails are probably quite standardised and it wouldn't be that difficult to program a bot to "find" the password and stick it in the subject.

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A comment on: What's this spam-fighting technique called?

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Comment from Chris Buechler on 2008-06-04

2008-06-04T23:19:49Z

Backscatter indeed is the biggest problem with C/R, IMO. As someone whose email address is all over the Internet, I get dozens of bunk C/R messages every day. Once every couple months someone sends out a huge spam run with the "from" as my address and I'll get thousands of bounces and C/R garbage a day for a couple days.

Anything that creates backscatter is considered a poor practice by most people these days, and some spam blacklists will list you for doing it, which will cause problems with your ability to send email to some people.

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Comment from Ken B on 2008-06-04

2008-06-04T19:11:57Z

You forgot one of the biggest (IMHO) problems with C/R -- "backscatter".

Remember, every spam that you get from an "unknown" sender gets a challenge sent to the forged "from" address. And a good portion of those forged "from" addresses are valid, resulting in you generating unwanted, unsolicited e-mails (read: spam) to those innocent bystanders.

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A comment on: What's this spam-fighting technique called?

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