Analysis of Spam

Abstract

Spam is a pervasive annoyance in the lives of the Internet user. It has exploded into all facets of communications from mobile phones to personal organisers, and it has become a topical subject of discussion due to recent media coverage. Spam has a tangible cost measured in lost productivity, bandwidth usage, administration, and invasion of privacy. As a result, an anti-spam industry has evolved in order to counter the spam attack with a focus on two spam-filtering categories: collaborative techniques and content-analysis techniques. This research involved analysing a wide variety of e-mail in order to produce a profile of spam and, more importantly, develop a profile of the spammer. A number of fundamental questions are answered, for example: are current definitions of spam adequate and if so, are they globally applicable? There was also an investigation to examine the possibility of a spammer successfully targeting e-mail to an individual or group of individuals. In this study, honeypot accounts were created and positioned to receive spam. The outcome of this research is a definitive guide to spam, which will provide researchers and regular Internet users alike with knowledge that will aid them in the fight against spam and facilitate the improvement of spam filtering techniques.