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  • From: Steven Champeon <schampeo AT hesketh.com>
  • To: InterNetWorkers <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] Baiting Spamtraps
  • Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2003 13:55:09 -0400

on Sat, Jun 14, 2003 at 10:17:12AM -0400, David Minton wrote:
> Is it ethical to bait Spamtraps? I figure, why wait for the
> harvesters, why not get the Spamtrap addresses into circulation
> faster. Are there any really good lists to subscribe to to make sure
> you get tons of spam?

Ethical? Who cares? The bottom line is whether you actually /want/ more
spam. I have 1546 spamtraps total, and I used to keep all the spam I got
to those addresses, as well as using them as sure indicators that it was
okay to block the sender, etc. But I've started rejecting the mail
instead, because it simply takes too much time to analyze all the spam.

Last month, one of our servers received 3456 messages sent directly to
spamtraps. (That's compared to some 2832 sent from commonly forged
domains, 4312 sent through my low priority MX, and 13515 caught via
other means, such as domain blacklists and other checks). So far this
month, I've already bounced 5200 messages sent to spamtraps.

On the one hand, it might help you figure out where the spam is coming
from and what it is advertising, on the other, it's just more spam.

--
hesketh.com/inc. v: (919) 834-2552 f: (919) 834-2554 w: http://hesketh.com
Book publishing is second only to furniture delivery in slowness. -b. schneier




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