You probably have a pretty good idea how well you're doing in the fight against spam based on the feedback you get from users. However, spamming techniques continually evolve and keeping up the fight is challenging. Take this quiz to test your understanding of spam and pick up some spam mitigation tactics along the way.
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1.) What term describes a version of e-mail spoofing in which the message looks like the recipient sent it to himself, i.e. the recipient's name appears on the "from" line as well as the "to" line?
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2.) To avoid directory harvest attacks (DHAs), one – albeit misguided -- school of thought is to accept all e-mail, whether or not the recipient is valid. How does this decrease the chances of a successful DHA?
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3.) What is the name for a denial-of-service attack that results from mail transfer agents (MTAs) sending bounce messages to a valid source address that has been spoofed in spam?
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4.) What type of program harvests e-mail addresses from the Internet in order to build mailing lists for sending spam?
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5.) According to MessageLabs, nearly 70% of all spam and phishing e-mails now originate from vast armies of compromised, robot-like machines. What are these compromised machines called?
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6.) What are the two methods used in a DHA to harvest valid e-mail addresses?
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7.) What antispam capability in Exchange 2003 blocks messages that are destined for users who do not exist within the Active Directory?
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8.) What is the word for the deliberate alteration of an e-mail address so that a human reader can decode it but a spambot cannot?
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9.) What word describes the practice of comparing the routing addresses of incoming e-mail to a list of servers that spammers are suspected of using in an effort to block spam?
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10.) In programs used to filter spam, what is the term for a legitimate message mistakenly marked as spam?
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How'd you do?
9-10 correct: Spam slayer
6-8 correct: Spam sufficient
3-5 correct: Spam softie
0-2 correct: Spam slacker
This was first published in April 2005