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Home > Archive > Anonymous Servers > March 2005 > Re: spammy changes tactics, more spam, fewer zombies?
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Re: spammy changes tactics, more spam, fewer zombies?
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| Big Bad Bob 2005-03-13, 2:45 am |
| Anonymous wrote:
> I have long suspected somewhere deep inside that most internet abuse
> (spamming, phishing, worms, ad nausea) has more sinister roots than
> sleazy people hunting for fast money.
possible, but not likely, conspiracy theories notwithstanding. It would
make an interesting investigation - better get "The Question" on it -
heh heh.
> The internet has given more "people power" to John Q. Public than
> anything in history
and that goes double for world-wide exposure to former communist (and
still "communist" in name only) regimes.
> E-mail might have been the people's press.
probably not. blog sites and USENET are better suited to public forum,
whereas e-mail will always be for private communication, no different
than snail-mail except for speed and lack of dead trees.
> Because of spam, however, e-mail is useless for even positive mass
> communication.
it's not the only reason, but spam is spam, even if it's "beneficial"
like warning people of something. Imagine getting spammed with
religious info because a few well meaning religious folk decided that
the "second coming of christ" would be in a few weeks, and they
genuinely wanted to warn everyone... so even well intentioned mass
mailings are still 'spam' no matter how you look at it.
> Usenet, in turn, might have been the people's town hall. But spam has
> prevented that as well. The trolls appear to be working hard to finish
> off the diehards who remain.
doubtful. troll traffic vs legit traffic in AH is less than 50%
> Phishing, worms, browser hijackings, and all the other nasties around
> the internet have similarly scared people away from participating in
> other freedoms -- including the freedom to visit new and unexplored
> web sites without fear of browser hijackings, or the freedom to send
> binaries through e-mail (everyone is afraid of attachments), and even
> the freedom to follow links (due to the prevalence of disguised links
> leading to worms or identity thieves eager to crack your computer).
this is all true. Hopefully the overall effect will be "do not trust it
if it was sent by e-mail". Other means (like legit web sites where you
know the operator) still exist. Also shipping applications in source
form, or using standard means of distribution (like gnu.org or
sourceforge.net) cuts way down on the virus/trojan problem because the
source can be compiled into legit binaries, and anyone (and everyone for
that matter) can review the source to verify that no 'malware' makes it
into the internet via that venue.
> Of course, I wouldn't even consider suggesting that 100% of spam/worms/
> phishing attacks/trolls/etc. are orchestrated.
more now than it used to be.
> Which, after the needlessly long ranting above, brings me back to the
> usenet trolls. Haven't their numbers become even slightly suspicious?
no, more likely a select few anus-brains that delight in being a pain in
the XXX to the rest of the world.
> There are clearly people out there with bipolar disorders.
no, more like very very very immature.
> The trolls today, however, don't appear to be motivated by attention,
> but by a quest to destroy newsgroups. That takes a lot of time,
> effort, patience, and organization.
not really, software can make the task much easier. A single immature
individual bent on making everyone in the universe hate him can easily
accomplish this task.
It's more like dogs peeing on hydrants, or taggers painting street
signs. "they" want to be noticed, and say "look how big my penis is, I
just did XXX".
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