We all deal with the dreaded spam emails that constantly flood our inboxes and take precious seconds of our lives to delete. But is spam a bigger problem than simply hitting the delete button? What can be done to prevent spammers?
The Cost of Spam: Impact on Corporations and ISPs
It may not seem like a big deal to check off a list of emails that are presumably spam and delete them each time you log in, but there are other problems associated with sending and receiving spam messages. Often times we don’t think about the costs associated with spam problems for corporations or Internet Service Providers (ISP). Not only does it create a problem in terms of normal email delivery, but it also can pose a problem with an influx of bandwidth usage, loss of service performance, and corporation employee productivity.
When companies have to generate spam filters and use filtering programs, legitimate emails may be misplaced into spam folders. When corporations take on clients that are spamming, it causes problems for their network and IP reputation, as well as increased costs in hiring employees solely to deal with spam and abuse complaints.
Combatting Spam: Strategies for Prevention and Mitigation
Spammers are becoming relentless in getting their bulk mailings sent out. They’re buying mailing lists from other spammers, stealing address books from compromised computers, and even guessing and test mailing random email addresses.
Additionally, they are using a variety of tricks to disguise where their messages originate. In doing so, they are relaying the messages off a third-party mail server. This causes a problem for the mail server that’s being innocently targeted because they end up dealing with the complaints and backlash for the abuse being polluted from their server.
Protecting Your Network: Best Practices Against Spam
As spammers create more and more new tricks, handling or preventing spam becomes an increasingly difficult task. Of course, spam filters will decrease the amount of mail making its way to your inbox, but you then run the risk of missing important messages.
Before allowing clients onto your network, you should review block lists to ensure their name and/or email address isn’t listed. One great option for this is the Spamhaus, ROKSO listing. Outbound spam and virus scanning can also assist in controlling the chances of outbreaks on your network. However, having a diligent team prepared to follow up with spam complaints and address them is imperative.
While this simply scratches the surface of spam issues and how to handle them, it’s important to understand that it’s a bigger problem than just deleting a chunk of unwanted emails from your inbox. Spam is not only a nuisance, but also poses significant problems for ISPs, their employees, and their clients.
