mountain of spam before anyone ever sees it. However, spammers move fast. Considering that email is delivered almost instantly even the most efficient of ISP spam filters will NEVER catch the first spam mailing based purely on where it is coming from. Invariably the first mailing goes through, the ISP receives a pile of complaints(these are often generated internally from their own monitoring systems) and the senders IP is investigated and banned.

The other big difference between regular mail and email is cost. There is a certain amount of cost involved with setting up an internet connection, but once this is established a spammer can quickly send out messages, and one message is as

I heard it dozens of times each day "I don't really know computers" or "I'm not good with computers" or "I don't speak computer", and every time it was the signal for me to step out of the world of jargon and tech speak, and into the world of analogy and simplification. Generally when you simplify something you leave yourself open to massive misunderstandings down the track, especially something as complex as the workings of the internet. However there was one analogy which everyone could understand and which, when it came right down to it, goes a long way to explaining how email works, and as such gives us insight into the development of spam.

Consider a regular letter. At it's very simplest I write something on a piece of paper and give it to you. But suppose you aren't next door, suppose you are at work. I can't go to your work, so I give it to someone heading that direction and they drop it off to you. Somewhere back in the darkness of history this happened and mail was born. The progression is simple and natural - after a while rather than giving the letter to a person who happens to be going in the correct direction someone takes it upon themselves to take all mail going in that direction. Then they take all mail going anywhere, sort it by destination and send each package in the correct direction to be distributed when it gets to a sorting center at the destination. Then these networks of mail carriers start to work together and you have a whole big mishmash of mail flowing seamlessly through the system - dropped off at designated points and delivered to a pick-up point(this was once the post office, now it is your door). And that's basically how mail works, and how it evolved to work.

Now in the cyber age we have email, and the evolution of email is not too dissimilar to regular mail. E-messages started as an internal form of communication, then reached across networks, and finally reached across the world. The system it uses is basically the same as snail mail. When you send a message it goes to your ISP. Your ISP is basically your local post office. Your ISP looks at the address you put on your mail and sends it off in the right direction to get there. Eventually it will end up at your recipients ISP for picking up. Think of your recipients ISP as the post office at the other end of the chain - the one charged with getting the letter from the post office to your letterbox. When your recipient next logs in they will ask their ISP if they have new mail, and be handed your letter.

The big difference between snail mail and e-mail is SPEED. When you send an email it zaps around the world in almost no time at all. And here is where spam is born. The 'post offices' can screen out known spammers, and actually remove a mountain of spam before anyone ever sees it. However, spammers move fast. Considering that email is delivered almost instantly even the most efficient of ISP spam filters will NEVER catch the first spam mailing based purely on where it is coming from. Invariably the first mailing goes through, the ISP receives a pile of complaints(these are often generated internally from their own monitoring systems) and the senders IP is investigated and banned.

The other big difference between regular mail and email is cost. There is a certain amount of cost involved with setting up an internet connection, but once this is established a spammer can quickly send out messages, and one message is as f

simplest I write something on a piece of paper and give it to you. But suppose you aren't next door, suppose you are at work. I can't go to your work, so I give it to someone heading that direction and they drop it off to you. Somewhere back in the darkness of history this happened and mail was born. The progression is simple and natural - after a while rather than giving the letter to a person who happens to be going in the correct direction someone takes it upon themselves to take all mail going in that direction. Then they take all mail going anywhere, sort it by destination and send each package in the correct direction to be distributed when it gets to a sorting center at the destination. Then these networks of mail carriers start to work together and you have a whole big mishmash of mail flowing seamlessly through the system - dropped off at designated points and delivered to a pick-up point(this was once the post office, now it is your door). And that's basically how mail works, and how it evolved to work.

Now in the cyber age we have email, and the evolution of email is not too dissimilar to regular mail. E-messages started as an internal form of communication, then reached across networks, and finally reached across the world. The system it uses is basically the same as snail mail. When you send a message it goes to your ISP. Your ISP is basically your local post office. Your ISP looks at the address you put on your mail and sends it off in the right direction to get there. Eventually it will end up at your recipients ISP for picking up. Think of your recipients ISP as the post office at the other end of the chain - the one charged with getting the letter from the post office to your letterbox. When your recipient next logs in they will ask their ISP if they have new mail, and be handed your letter.

The big difference between snail mail and e-mail is SPEED. When you send an email it zaps around the world in almost no time at all. And here is where spam is born. The 'post offices' can screen out known spammers, and actually remove a mountain of spam before anyone ever sees it. However, spammers move fast. Considering that email is delivered almost instantly even the most efficient of ISP spam filters will NEVER catch the first spam mailing based purely on where it is coming from. Invariably the first mailing goes through, the ISP receives a pile of complaints(these are often generated internally from their own monitoring systems) and the senders IP is investigated and banned.

The other big difference between regular mail and email is cost. There is a certain amount of cost involved with setting up an internet connection, but once this is established a spammer can quickly send out messages, and one message is as

tion. Then these networks of mail carriers start to work together and you have a whole big mishmash of mail flowing seamlessly through the system - dropped off at designated points and delivered to a pick-up point(this was once the post office, now it is your door). And that's basically how mail works, and how it evolved to work.

Now in the cyber age we have email, and the evolution of email is not too dissimilar to regular mail. E-messages started as an internal form of communication, then reached across networks, and finally reached across the world. The system it uses is basically the same as snail mail. When you send a message it goes to your ISP. Your ISP is basically your local post office. Your ISP looks at the address you put on your mail and sends it off in the right direction to get there. Eventually it will end up at your recipients ISP for picking up. Think of your recipients ISP as the post office at the other end of the chain - the one charged with getting the letter from the post office to your letterbox. When your recipient next logs in they will ask their ISP if they have new mail, and be handed your letter.

The big difference between snail mail and e-mail is SPEED. When you send an email it zaps around the world in almost no time at all. And here is where spam is born. The 'post offices' can screen out known spammers, and actually remove a mountain of spam before anyone ever sees it. However, spammers move fast. Considering that email is delivered almost instantly even the most efficient of ISP spam filters will NEVER catch the first spam mailing based purely on where it is coming from. Invariably the first mailing goes through, the ISP receives a pile of complaints(these are often generated internally from their own monitoring systems) and the senders IP is investigated and banned.

The other big difference between regular mail and email is cost. There is a certain amount of cost involved with setting up an internet connection, but once this is established a spammer can quickly send out messages, and one message is as

l post office. Your ISP looks at the address you put on your mail and sends it off in the right direction to get there. Eventually it will end up at your recipients ISP for picking up. Think of your recipients ISP as the post office at the other end of the chain - the one charged with getting the letter from the post office to your letterbox. When your recipient next logs in they will ask their ISP if they have new mail, and be handed your letter.

The big difference between snail mail and e-mail is SPEED. When you send an email it zaps around the world in almost no time at all. And here is where spam is born. The 'post offices' can screen out known spammers, and actually remove a mountain of spam before anyone ever sees it. However, spammers move fast. Considering that email is delivered almost instantly even the most efficient of ISP spam filters will NEVER catch the first spam mailing based purely on where it is coming from. Invariably the first mailing goes through, the ISP receives a pile of complaints(these are often generated internally from their own monitoring systems) and the senders IP is investigated and banned.

The other big difference between regular mail and email is cost. There is a certain amount of cost involved with setting up an internet connection, but once this is established a spammer can quickly send out messages, and one message is as

mountain of spam before anyone ever sees it. However, spammers move fast. Considering that email is delivered almost instantly even the most efficient of ISP spam filters will NEVER catch the first spam mailing based purely on where it is coming from. Invariably the first mailing goes through, the ISP receives a pile of complaints(these are often generated internally from their own monitoring systems) and the senders IP is investigated and banned.

The other big difference between regular mail and email is cost. There is a certain amount of cost involved with setting up an internet connection, but once this is established a spammer can quickly send out messages, and one message is as free as one thousand. With regular mail there is both a production cost and a distribution cost that scales according to volume.

The similarities and differences outlined in this article should give a good overview of how spam spreads so quickly, how hard it is to fight and why it does not affect the regular mail system so easily.