What is Spam?
Spam refers to unsolicited, unwanted, inappropriate bulk email, Usenet postings and MUD/IRC monologs. For the purposes of this discussion, we will use the term Spam primarily in reference to email, which is what it is generally understood to mean when used in connection with the Internet. Spam is often referred to as Unsolicited Bulk Mail (UBM), Excessive Multi-Posting (EMP), Unsolicited Commercial email (UCE), spam mail, bulk email or just junk mail.
Why do people send spam ?
Spam is the electronic equivalent of junk mail. Public sends Spam in order to sell their products and services or to promote an email . The bulk of Spam is intended, however, to increase traffic to web sites or to sell sex and money making schemes. Unlike junk mail in your physical mailbox, Spam does not abait if it is unsuccessful. When sales or marketing departments send junk mail at considerable expense, without success, they generally try a different sales pitch. Spam on the other hand can be entirely unsuccessful, but the huge number of wannabe spammers waiting in the wings ensures that we will continue to receive lots of it.
What is spam filter?
It is the concept of detecting and intercepting unwanted bulk mail — or “spam” — before it reaches a recipient’s mailbox. Spam filters detect bulk mail through the occurrence of certain phrases and known spammer IP addresses in incoming mail. However, because distributors of spam are increasingly innovative in their efforts to circumvent the spam filters that protect email users’ mailboxes, spam is a running target, and developers of spam-filtering technology are constantly being challenged in their quest to keep the bulk-mail onslaught at bay. Thus, in order to effectively shield email users from spam, a spam filter must be flexible. The Spam filter enables users to personalize the filter by training it to detect and intercept mail that fit each user’s particular preference and definition of spam.
How this Filter works ?
The server-side Spam filter works in conjunction with the client-side (end user) Web-Based Email interface. In essence, the end user utilizes the client-side interface to submit selected email messages for spam analysis. By analyzing all the messages the spam filter compiles information that enables it to detect and intercept spam. As an increasing number of email messages are analyzed, the filter becomes increasingly adept at intercepting electronic mail that this particular user considers spam.
