[User] new spam technique (fwd)

[hcrouch@mchsi.com]

----------------------  Forwarded Message:  ---------------------
From:    Rob Funk <rfunk@funknet.net>
To:      user@cantonlinux.org
Subject: [User] new spam technique
Date:    Thu, 21 Aug 2003 11:30:27 -0400

So when Bayesian spam filtering came along, letting everyone automatically 
detect spam based on the words used within, the spammers retaliated by 
included random words from a dictionary or just "words" made of random 
characters.

But now they've gone a step further -- they're now making use of the 
multipart/alternative MIME type.  Netscape pioneered the use of 
multipart/alternative to give both a plain-text and an HTML view of a 
message, with the client choosing the version they prefer.  Now the 
spammers are sticking reasonable-looking text (e.g. a piece of a history 
essay) in the text/plain part, and their ad in the HTML part.  Most modern 
mail readers will just show the HTML, but the spam detector is looking at 
the whole thing.

I'm starting to think that the spammer and anti-spammer industries are 
where all the innovation is happening these days.
-- 
==============================| "A slice of life isn't the whole cake
 Rob Funk <rfunk@funknet.net> | One tooth will never make a full grin"
 http://www.funknet.net/rfunk |    -- Chris Mars, "Stuck in Rewind"

_______________________________________________
User mailing list
User@cantonlinux.org
http://cantonlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/user

-
To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@silug.org with
"unsubscribe silug-discuss" in the body.