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Blue Security, a California based security firm, has decided to fight spam with complaints about spam. Sound a little circular? The idea is that for every piece of email spam that you receive you can automatically complain. That's right no more filling out those unsubscribe forms yourself. The new technology, that Blue Security has named Blue Frog, is free to download and install. You can even download the source code for the program if you want. The whole system is based on something called the Do-Not-Intrude Registry, which once installed, can monitor up to three e-mail addresses for spam. The security firm not only watches those addresses but up to a dozen accounts it sets up for that act as additional "honey pots", or accounts that attract spam such as webmaster@example.com.
Blue Security then parses the messages it receives from the registered users, then follows the links inside the spam to the originating site where, products or services pitched by the spam are probably being sold. The forms are then identified, such as an order form, or an unsubscribe form, and Blue Frog fills its fields in automatically filled with a message asking to be removed from their spam list. The message simply reads:
"I kindly ask that you cease sending me or other registered users spam," the message reads.
Hopefully this is a punishment to spammers by putting an extreme load on their servers. The problem of course is that this closely resembles a DOS (Denial Of Service) attack. Eran Reshef, the chief executive of Blue Security, strongly denies this saying that, "We have the right to complain.". I'll agree with that but even the opt-out complaints are synchronized, so that all users whose accounts are monitored file simultaneously. This isn't just a user complaint, it's an attack. Not that spammers don't deserve it. The problem, however, is that many spammers setup on servers with shared hosting, which could result in valid websites being subject to these DOS attacks causing honest site owners to pay the price for spammers.
Reshef stands by his idea though citing that Two other sites that he declined to name have agreed to stop sending spam to the real and "honey pot" accounts.
I'm not sure if I support or reject this idea yet, it honestly seems a bit like responding to an attack with an attack, which normally results in a world war. I simply worry who will really pay the price for these spammers.
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