Spamtastic

Want a technical definition of electronic spam? Try this one at Wikipedia: “[T]he use of electronic messaging systems (including most broadcast media, digital delivery systems) to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately. While the most widely recognized form of spam is e-mail spam, the term is applied to similar abuses in other media: instant messaging spam, Usenet newsgroup spam, Web search engine spam, spam in blogs, wiki spam, online classified ads spam, mobile phone messaging spam, Internet forum spam, junk fax transmissions, social networking spam, television advertising and file sharing network spam.”

In 2009, Cisco systems took a look at where most of the electronic spam originates:

Rank	Country	Spam messages per year (in trillions)
1	Brazil	7.7
2	United States	6.6
3	India	3.6
4	South Korea	3.1
5	Turkey	2.6
6	Vietnam	2.5
7	China	2.4
8	Poland	2.4
9	Russia	2.3
10	Argentina	1.5

In 2003, the United States enacted the CAN-SPAM Act to help internet service providers battle the tsunami of spam carried by their systems; spam-filters are now routine, but given the number of messages that Americans (and everyone else in this connected world) still receive, either the United States is a nation of small-penis and difficult-to-arouse males and flat-chested women wanting more or the law simply doesn’t work and filters are easily by-passed.

The situation is clearly exacerbated with illegal personal computer “take-overs,” where outsiders use malware to capture your computer turning it into a spam-emitting “bot” or “zombie” computer. “Increasingly, e-mail spam today is sent via ‘zombie networks,” networks of virus- or worm-infected personal computers in homes and offices around the globe; many modern worms install a backdoor which allows the spammer access to the computer and use it for malicious purposes. This complicates attempts to control the spread of spam, as in many cases the spam doesn't even originate from the spammer.” Wikipedia.

We could just throw our hands in the air, mimic Bulgaria as the only nation on earth officially to legalize spam, and give up… or we can counterattack. Every once and a while, a big fish gets busted, and spam levels drop. “On May 31, 2007, one of the world's most prolific spammers, Robert Alan Soloway, was arrested by U.S. authorities. Described as one of the top ten spammers in the world, Soloway was charged with 35 criminal counts, including mail fraud, wire fraud, e-mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Prosecutors allege that Soloway used millions of ‘zombie’ computers to distribute spam during 2003. This is the first case in which U.S. prosecutors used identity theft laws to prosecute a spammer for taking over someone else's Internet domain name.…In November 2008 an ISP, McColo, which was providing service to botnet operators, was depeered and spam dropped 50%-75% Internet-wide.” Wikipedia.

The most recent big fish to be charged with a spam-related crime is Igor A. Gusev, who allegedly operated a major zombie network – purportedly through spamit.com (Gusev’s lawyers deny he owns this site) – from Russia. The Russians alleged that the site “paid spammers to promote online pharmacies, sometimes quite lewdly. SpamIt.com suddenly stopped operating on Sept. 27. With less financial incentive to send their junk mail, spammers curtailed their activity by an estimated 50 billion messages a day.” New York Times, October 27^th. Usually Russians don’t get involved in these activities, but Gusev was charged with, among other allegations, failing to register as a business and opera ting an unlicensed pharmacy. Mr. Gusev was nowhere to be found; authorities suspect he has fled the country.

The results that apparently stemmed from this single investigation are staggering: “You may not have noticed, but since late last month, the world supply of Viagra ads and other e-mail spam has dropped by an estimated one-fifth. With 200 billion spam messages in circulation each day, there is still plenty to go around…

“Kaspersky Lab, an antivirus company based in Moscow, said there had been a notable drop in mass e-mail in the United States that advertised prescription drugs — to about 41 percent of all spam at the end of the September from 65 percent at the beginning of the month. The figures are comparable in Western Europe, the company said. Many of the pharmaceuticals sold through Web sites promoted by spammers are believed to be counterfeit… Other computer security companies had reported similar reductions in prescription drug spam, although they cautioned that spam volumes were volatile and often spring back to previous high levels. O n a typical day, spam accounts for about 90 percent of all e-mail traffic on the Internet.” The Times. Remember when “Spam” was just a strange meat product? What? You mean you can still buy it?!

I’m Peter Dekom, and modern life appears to be increasingly defined by the number of outside intrusions and disruptions of life… as it used to be.