Spam will be punished
Date: July 26, 2005Source: addict3d.org
Israeli technology firm Blue Security has reportedly set up a plan known as the "Blue Frog Initiative" to hammer spam websites with thousands of complaints.
The plan, according to published reports, is to fill order forms on spam websites that offer pills, porn and penile health schemes with complaints about the products advertised for sale in junk messages.
A leading anti-spam advocate, however, criticized Blue Security Inc., calling the plan vigilantism and the technique being no more than a denial-of-service attack, the same technique used by hackers to shut down a Web site by overwhelming it with fake traffic.
"It's the worst kind of vigilante approach...Deliberate attacks against people's Web sites are illegal," said John Levine, a board member with the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail, according to published reports.
Eran Reshef, Blue Security's founder and chief executive, denied the allegation, saying Blue Frog merely empowers users to collectively make complaints they otherwise would have sent individually.
Here's how the technique works:
Those signing up for Blue Security's Do-Not-Intrude registry download the Blue Frog software and can have messages sent to up to three e-mail addresses monitored.
Blue Security then creates additional addresses, known as 'honeypots', designed to lure unsuspecting spammers.
If a 'honeypot' receives spam, Blue Security tries to warn the spammer. Then it reportedly triggers the Blue Frog software on the user's computer to send a complaint automatically.
"You are complaining as an individual about spam messages that are sent to you," Reshef added. "By sending you an e-mail, [the spammers] have invited you to respond."
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| Discussion is closed - view comments archieve |
| 2005-08-27 01:21:04 - In addition to William Keeley's excellent... SpamSlayer |
| 2005-07-28 22:37:47 - They should be punishied, its really... Rick Jones |
| 2005-07-26 23:37:06 - I have been doing something like this... William Keeley |
| Total 3 comments |
