We’ve all seen it before, another email advertising anything from free garden gnomes to spectacular cravats, not only is it a cause of constant irritation and frustration but it is also quite embarrassing when a work colleague comes over to your desk to discuss the Stanmore account only to discover Viagra related emails on your screen!
Spam has very much become part of life in our modern society, but do we really know that much about it? And the dangers it hides?
What is Spam anyway? Technically spam is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited, undesired bulk messages.
The most common form is email spam, but it can also apply to any messaging conduit, such as; instant messaging, newsgroups, web search engines, blogs, and mobile phone messaging.
Email spam involves sending unsolicited commercial messages to many recipients; generally this is without the explicit permissions of the recipient.
Why on earth do people spam? Unfortunately it is an easy and economically viable form of mass advertising as it has no operating costs beyond the management of the mailing list and it has virtually no liability as it is difficult to hold individual senders accountable.
It is common practise for spammers to go to great lengths to try and conceal the origin of their messages, this helps to limit their chances of being caught.
