curiously The word spam has a very different origin than what many of us could think. And it is that this name comes from a brand of canned meat, which American soldiers received from their relatives during World War II.
But today in computing it has acquired a different name; it is known as an unsolicited message which generally refers to the sale of products and services without authorization. Therefore, it is common to receive notifications that are not of personal interest.
Previously, these were only directed or better said, known in emails, but this has expanded to other platforms such as blogs, instant messages, social networks and even mobile devices. So that you can learn more about it, in the following tutorial we will explain it step by step. What is? How can spam filters help you? and more.
What is SPAM or unwanted email from my inbox?
As previously indicated, its name comes from an old brand of canned meat. Though, today it has a very different definition and is spam. Referring to unsolicited or unwanted messages. Mainly of the advertising type or those that are sent in a massive way.
In the spam category too you have to add the messages that are sent for purposes fraudulent or malicious emails. Generally, these contain false information to carry out scams, so their sole objective is to obtain the recipient’s personal data.
But this kind of mail It is not only limited today to email, since social networks or instant messaging such as WhatsApp are also affected. Reason why we must be very attentive to what we receive on many occasions.
What is an AntiSPAM and what is this type of program for?
When we talk about antispam programs, whether for computers or mobile devices, we talk about These allow its users to eliminate or block all that mail that it considers unwanted, or that the person has marked in the same way.
What can they be used for? Simple, they serve to keep your email inbox, your WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Twitters or other applications that you use to communicate, free of these malicious and annoying ads.
It should be noted that this is not only allowed by programs or applications, can also be configured with email services such as: Gmail, Outlook and others, so that they block and send to the deleted messages folder, everything that has been considered as spam.
How does an Anti-SPAM work? Principal functions
They work by scanning all the messages that come to you, where in turn these are qualified around certain characteristics. Depending on the score, the release may or may not be considered spam.
After analyzing those who have entered, these can be: blocked, deleted or sent to the “Spam” folder. When they are marked as “Deleted”, it is not entirely true, since they are sent to the corresponding folder.
No notice of this type, under any circumstances is removed entirely, because there may be cases where messages that are not spam are classified in this way. So to prevent them from being deleted, these are archived until you review them and you are in charge of canceling or recovering them.
What are the types of Anti SPAM that exist and how are they different?
There are two main types of anti spam, these are:
- Those that identify the spam message based on the characteristics it contains. This is reflected through a study, where they are reviewed and qualified. Depending on the qualities, they will receive a score, and the higher it is, the more chances there are that they will be considered or not.
- The antispam filters that identify them use statistical approximations. This is somewhat similar to the above. But in these cases it is much more accurate. However, it needs previous help, this consists of the user manually identifying messages of this type. So it learns their characteristics, in order to block all those that are classified as such with the details in the future. that you previously learned.
In addition to this, we can see other varieties of filters, such as:
Bayesian spam filters
Bayesian filters work primarily with experience, and They learn from those messages that the users themselves mark as such. So they need other people to be effective and improve. That is, if the user qualifies an email as such, what he will do is compare those marked emails with others and create a database to discard them at once.
This type of filters can raise the alert by means of words or the use of some effects, for example: the word “FREE” is capitalized or the use of striking fonts with colors, bold or yellow shading.
The lists they use are generated by detecting patterns, based on emails that were manually marked as spam. So that In some cases, non-junk mail may be marked as spam and appear in the spam folder.
Blacklists
Blacklists exclude any messages coming from certain IPs. These are databases that show addresses where bad actions have been carried out, such as mass mailing.
It works by mail servers that check if it is hosted there, in order to know whether to accept or reject the received mail. The problem arises when it cannot differentiate if these are sent voluntarily. So you may find yourself in one of them without reason.
The reasons may be the following:
- You may have sent a message to a spamtrap or trap mail, these are emails that the mail service providers have created and that have no activity. They use it as an alarm method, to catch spammers.
- Your email has been hacked and have sent messages automatically.
- Your computers were infected by a virus who constantly sends emails to anyone.
Email Firewalls
Firewalls also known as firewalls, They are nothing more than systems in charge of restricting unauthorized access to certain elements. Those work by rules that are established by the provider and its administrator. They typically use a combination with Bayesian filtering, blacklisting, and others to prevent spam.
So this will make all messages received or sent, go through the firewall that will be responsible for examining each message, and if they do not meet any of the security criteria they will be blocked.
Challenge/Response Filters
Even though these are not widely used, there are many that still implement them. It works as follows; if you send an email with this filter, and still the contact is not in that person’s friends list or notebook, you will be considered a stranger. In such a way that you will be labeled as a spammer.
This to verify that you are or not, what it does is that an automatic response is sent to you with a question to answer or a link that you must enter, to prove that you are not a robot. In case of being labeled as such, all that remains is to talk to the recipient so that they include you on their list.
Antispam filters that are based on your reputation
Reputation depends, as you say, on your position, that is, on the scores that the sender’s identification acquires. This filter is based on the sending IP address and the name of your domain used in sending the e-mails. If you do not have a reputation, they will be watching you, as this will measure your actions and that of your followers.
If you get a good reputation, you will get a good percentage through the people who open your campaigns and email message links.
Why should you use a spam protector? The dangers of SPAM and how to avoid it
It is important to use an anti-spam program or application, because These allow you to maintain your e-mail accounts with greater security. In such a way, that you can protect your personal information and the state of the equipment.
You should know that There are not only spam emails that are sent as a repetitive or recurring message. If not, there are also those that may contain malware designed to steal your information or cause damage to your equipment. Such damage can be fixed or in the worst case not. It is common for it to happen for those users who are not very experienced or due to some carelessness.
In the same way, allow you to save time by not having to review emails of this type, because you can even identify those senders who use fraudulent or not very credible accounts. The best way to avoid this is with any anti spam program.
We suggest that if you do not have them and you receive any suspicious email, never open the document or the link attached to it.
In what platform can we be victims of SPAM in addition to email?
There are many platforms where you can be a victim of spam. Since, currently you can connect from any device to almost any platform.
Blogging
The blogs are sites where spam can usually existbecause users perform annoying practices to gain recognition, intimidate, or for unethical purposes.
Social networks
Those sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and many more, often spam pages you don’t follow, other users, or any other similar content.
Forums
These types of websites are intended for sharing information or discussions mainly. But, there are cases where malicious users use it to spam various things.
Instant messaging
Believe it or not, instant messengers can get spammed, and not just through text messages. You can also receive them by platform such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype and others.
Inside gaming platforms
It is common for online games to have options to add friends or send messages. In such a way that by these means spam messages can also be sent that only generate annoyance, or that can steal user information.
In summary, spam can affect virtually any area. Either for annoying purposes, to discredit or for more dangerous purposes. Therefore, it is very important to be aware of this type of modality.
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