Spam Wars: Our Last Best Chance to Defeat Spammers, Scammers and Hackers

How do spammers select their targets, make money on gaining email addresses, and gain information just from a preview of a spam message? How spammers and hackers work is revealed by veteran technology interpreter Danny Goodman in SPAM WARS: OUR LAST BEST CHANCE TO DEFEAT SPAMMERS, SCAMMERS, AND HACKERS. Chapters tell how criminals and scammers operate, how they use the email system, and when anti-spam technology and laws can't help. It also provides tips on how users can protect themselves and their email against attack. An invaluable, important guide.

I was recently sent a review copy of the book Spam Wars by Danny Goodman. This is an excellent read for anyone wanting to understand where spam comes from and how the whole "spamonomy" operates... Contents: Introduction; Email Predators, Guardians, and Victims; Grasping Spam (not SPAM); How We Got into This Mess; Behind the Curtain: How Email Works; It's the Spamonomy, Stupid!; How Spammers Get Your Email Address; Meet the Spammers and Scammers; The Spammer's View of the World; How Spam Differs from Junk Mail; The Antispammer's View of the World; Spammer Tricks Part 1: Headers; Spammer Tricks Part 2: Messages; Beware Geeks Bearing Gifts; Rule #3: Spammers Are Stupid; Technology as a Partial Solution; The Law as a Partial Solution; An Email Manifesto and To-do List; All about Email Message Headers; An Introduction to Span Sleuthing; Online Resources; Glossary; Index Unlike books that offer purely technical solutions to reduce the amount of spam you receive, Goodman takes a step back and lays the groundwork for how we found ourselves in the current environment. Any reasonably intelligent person will be able to take this book and begin to understand just how much of a problem this is. It's not just the 50 (or 500) emails you have to delete every day. It's the billions that get sent out continuously by spammers and scammers who don't deliver on their offers. And because there are people dumb enough to respond, it's a very lucrative business that has no regard for the victims... those of us who don't want to increase certain body parts or meet girls who are hot for us. Please! Goodman has a very irreverent style of writing in this particular work, and it's fun to read. He has no qualms to call spammers "stupid" and then back it up with examples that are far too numerous. I also appreciate that he doesn't attempt to offer some "silver bullet" that will magically take care of all your issues. There isn't one, and he openly acknowledges that. Technology can fix part of the problem, and laws can somewhat address another small segment. But in his final chapter, the "manifesto", he offers a series of steps and actions that each of us can take to start reclaiming our rightful possession that the spammer has stolen from us... our email address. I highly recommend this book to anyone who doesn't understand what the fuss is, or to those who have reached the end of their rope with spam. You don't have to be a techno-geek to read and understand the material, and you can start to make a difference in your little corner of the internet. And if enough people take the same steps, perhaps things will become better for everyone...

Spam Wars is truly a computer book for the twenty-first century. Award-winning technology interpreter Danny Goodman teaches readers Spam 101 followed by an intermediate course in Spam, including how to recognize spam, the importance of firewalls, spam, virus, spyware and malware filters that should be installed on every computer, and much more. In a day and age where the worst possible spam can lead to identity theft and worse, Spam Wars is much-needed reading for every small business and household that relies heavily upon computers and the internet. The basics for protecting oneself from attack are presented in plain terms that even the technologically clueless can quickly grasp, and special attention is given to the exploitable flaws in Microsoft Windows and the Outlook email program. Highly recommended.

SPAM WARS, like many other wars we've known seem to go on and on with no apparent ending or resolution. You'll notice those other "spam" books suggested up there. I've read them too. And I've promoted them through AACUG, the User Group Network and the Design Bookshelf web sites. I've quoted them in the AACUG's Anti-Spam initiative. But this is probably the most important book about the genre -- the level-headed, common sense book about spam -- how to avoid it and fight it. Danny Goodman helped millions of us become proficient computer users, and hyperscript programmers at the dawn of the desktop computing revolution. His level grasp of concepts coupled with his friendly manner made the world of computing understandable and comfortable. Now, he's taken up the torch to arm us and help us safely through the SPAM WARS. This book does the best job I've seen to date on actually putting a finger on what spam is, who the spammers are, how they operate and what you can stand to lose if they get you in their grasp. Yea, I know -- you're going to say you've heard it all before. I thought I had heard it all before too. But Danny's presentation is very different from all the web sites and books on the topic. You really haven't heard it in the clear, understandable fashion presented in SPAM WARS. Targeting the beginner, the uninitiated, and even a few of us 'old dogs', Danny walks the reader through the entire spectrum of spam. He covers the Government and Legislation. He addresses phishing, stalking, predators, zombies, and all the other evil tricks the denisons of the slime pits of spam employ to breach your walls. He guides you to understand how they work, what their goals are and how you can keep them from stealing, defrauding, misleading, and damaging you, your family and your loved ones. "Know Thy Enemy" But this book is really not about spam fighting as popularized online. It's an education which imparts the knowledge necessary to effectively keep spam from harming you. Think of it as self-defense. More importantly it's a call to the aid of your community -- learn the techniques of disarming the spammers at their very roots -- share that knowledge with every other computer user you know. Help those who are clueless, uneducated and at risk -- to understand how to guard themselves against the spam attack. Danny shows you how to recognize it, how to handle it, and how to go after the spammer's most vulnerable spots. You are now enlisted in the SPAM WARS. Here is your arsenal of weapons. Read it, learn it, act upon it, and then GIVE IT to your neighbor. Go out there and make us all proud. Fred Showker www.Design-Bookshelf.com