Inside the SPAM Cartel: By Spammer-X [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Spammer-X (Author), Jeffrey Posluns (Editor) (Author), Stu Sjouwerman (Foreword) (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1932266860 | ISBN-13: 978-1932266863 | Publication Date: November 27, 2004 | Edition: 1

Authored by a former spammer, this is a methodical, technically explicit expose of the inner workings of the SPAM economy. Readers will be shocked by the sophistication and sheer size of this underworld.

From the Author: "You may hate spam and think all spammers are evil, but listen to my story and see why I do this and more importantly, HOW."

For most people, the term "SPAM" conjures up the image of hundreds of annoying, and at times offensive, e-mails flooding their inbox every week. But for a few, SPAM is a way of life that delivers an adrenaline rush fueled by cash, danger, retribution, porn and the avoidance of local, federal, and international law enforcement agencies. "Inside the SPAM Cartel" offer readers a never-before seen view inside this dark sub-economy. You'll meet the characters that control the flow of money as well as the hackers and programmers committed to keeping the enterprise up and running. You may disagree with their objectives, but you can't help but to marvel at their ingenuity and resourcefulness in defeating spam filters, avoiding being identified, and staying one step ahead of the law.

* Spam makes up now 64% of all email sent and it is said to be the most annoying part of being online.

* You'll meet the characters that control the flow of money as well as the hackers and programmers committed to keeping the enterprise up and running.

* Authored by a former spammer, this is a methodical, technically explicit expose of the innerworkings of the SPAM economy.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jeffrey Posluns, CISM, CISA, ISSAP, ISSMP, CISSP, SSCP, has over a decade of experience specializing in the management of technology companies, with technical expertise in the analysis of hacker tools and techniques, intrusion detection, forensics, and incident response. Having founded, co-founded, and invested in several e-commerce and security initiatives, he has served in the capacity of president, CTO, and CIO. Jeffrey speaks at seminars and conferences worldwide for corporate, law enforcement, financial, and legal audiences, where his sessions are most often described as educational and thought provoking. As one of the industry's leading security professionals, he is a dynamic, highly sought business and technology speaker, an author of multiple books and white papers, and a recognized expert in identifying trends, solving business problems, and resolving security issues for many of the nation's leading companies.

He has authored, edited, and contributed to a number of books from Syngress Publishing including Snort 2.0 Intrusion Detection (ISBN: 1-931836-74-4), the SSCP Certification Study Guide & DVD Training System (ISBN: 1-931836-80-9), and Hack Proofing Your Wireless Networks (ISBN: 1-928994-59-8), as well as having written and contributed to other technological books, white papers, financial and security-related software and toolkits. Jeffrey is also a trainer for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) curriculum.

Stu Sjouwerman is the President of Sunbelt Software and the publisher of W2Knews, the world's first and largest e-newsletter specifically focused on NT/W2K system managers. W2Knews has 300,000 weekly readers who have the job of keeping  NT/W2K up and running in a production environments. Sunbelt has made it into the INC. 500 Magazine list of fastest-growing, privately-held companies. By 2003, Sunbelt had total revenues of $30M and Stu had co-authored three books on Windows system administration, including the bestselling Windows NT Power Toolkit. Sunbelt's most popular product is iHateSpam, which is the best selling anti-spam solution for Microsoft Exchange sites with 5,000 installations, and 250,000 end users using iHateSpam on their personal computers. Stu lives in Bellair, FL.

Product Details

• Paperback: 450 pages
• Publisher: Syngress; 1 edition (November 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932266860
• ISBN-13: 978-1932266863
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,114,653 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely fascinating -- one of the best books of 2004, December 11, 2004

By 

Richard Bejtlich "TaoSecurity" (Metro Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inside the SPAM Cartel: By Spammer-X (Paperback)

Reading 'Inside the Spam Cartel' (ITSC) is like watching a racing car crash; you're horrified to see it happen, but you can't take your eyes off it. ITSC exposes spam from the point of view of the 'enemy' -- a spammer who claims 'you need to be ruthless in this industry if you want to make any money at it' (p. 132). This book is an absolute must-read for anyone trying to combat spam, especially policy makers who think passing laws with clever names makes any difference.

ITSC's value derives from the authenticity of the author(s). I suspect that a lead author may have received assistance from contributors, all of whom are spammers, or in one case, a 'reformed-spammer-cum-system-administrator' (p. 320). Some parts of the book hint at a British author (see references to 'parliament' and 'headmasters') while others hint at a New Yorker (see stories of conversing with passers-by in the city, or buying expensive goods on 5th Avenue). ITSC pulls no punches and gives enough detail to make any semi-technically savvy user a future spammer. Just as the Anonymous author of 1997's 'Maximum Security' brought 'hacking' to the masses, Spammer-X brings spamming to a world that only sees spam in in-boxes, not the method by which spam is sent.

I found ITSC's discussion of tools and techniques enlightening. Readers will learn about programs to generate and transmit spam. They are advisted to host images at overseas 'bullet-proof' Web hosts. Spammer-X explains how to manipulate message content for maximum effect, how to receive referrals fees from sites selling products, and how to collect payment via sometimes shady means. The spam case studies in ch 11 were excellent, and the charts showing 'revenue vs. products sold' in ch 6 showed the author(s) treat spamming as a true business.

The only flaws I found involved rough copy-editing and reporting a bogus story involving RFID chips in US $20 bills. I was disturbed to hear spammers defend their need to break into servers to steal/trade/sell email addresses. I was also appalled by their practice of turning innocent home users into bot net participants and spam proxy servers as part of 'the perfect spam' (ch 11). Spamming of that sort is not an 'art form' which transmits 'masterpieces' (p. 369); it is the end result of illegal and destructive intrusions that prey on weaker elements of digital society. Marketing is fine; unauthorized access is wrong.

The author(s) barely mention the best way to mitigate spam (probably because it will work): changing the financial equation. Once users charge senders before accepting their mail (and then refunding legitimate senders), spamming will be too expensive. Until that micro-payment infrastructure is in place, I recommend we all read and heed Spammer-X's fascinating work.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From inside the mind of a spammer..., December 5, 2004

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inside the SPAM Cartel: By Spammer-X (Paperback)

In order to fight an enemy, you have to understand him. And in order to fight spam, you need to understand the mindset of the spammer. To do that, pick up a copy of Inside the SPAM Cartel by Spammer-X (Syngress).

Chapter List: Inside the Head of a Spammer; How Spam Works; Sending Spam; Your E-mail: Digital Gold; Creating the Message and Getting It Read; Spam Filters: Detection and Evasion; Spam Filters: Advanced Detection and Evasion; Phishing and Scam Spam; Spam and the Law; Analyzing Spam; The Real Cost of Spam; Statistics of Spam; The Future of Spam; FAQs of Spam; Closing Comments; Combating Spam with Exchange Server and Outlook; Index

This book is written from the first-person perspective of a spammer, and goes into great detail about the mentality and technology of spamming. Whether Spammer-X is a real person or not is irrelevant. The information is excellent and will definitely aid anyone who is responsible for combatting spam in an organization. He covers everything from how spammers make their money, how they hide their tracks, what technology they use to send out the mailings, and what techniques are used to prevent the money from being tracked. If you're trying to figure out where a spam email originates from, you'll learn how to read the headers to deduce what's real and what's not. It's definitely interesting to read about the whole spam process from a "spammer friendly" perspective. The argument could be made that this is a handbook on how to become a spammer, but it's also important to know what the "enemy" is up against. I think it has much more value in that way.

My only complaint with the book is that the editing process of the writing must have broken down somewhere here. There are a number of typos and grammatical errors in the book. If the book wasn't so interesting and useful, I'd probably mark it down a notch for that. But the value of the material can't be overlooked, so I'll award it the top rating on Amazon... 5 stars.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Confessions of a Spammer (?), January 9, 2005

By 

Eric Wuehler (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inside the SPAM Cartel: By Spammer-X (Paperback)

While I consider myself somewhat competent on the geek scale, this book was quite an eye opener as to how much I didn't realize went on from a technical standpoint. I'm reminded of that saying (I'm sure you heard it as a kid as well) that goes something like, "if you'd just focus that energy toward something constructive..." There is enough information in the book to get you started in the spam business, but I wouldn't worry about a new rash of spam as a result of this book. I doubt any of this couldn't be discovered googling around the internet.

While I hate spam as much as the next guy, I was surprised to find myself agreeing with some of the "pro-spam" points brought up in this book. (Don't worry, I quickly gave myself a few lashings...) There is also quite a bit of discussion about the CAN-SPAM act that effectively makes it pointless - especially for a "legit" spammer. (Yep, spam can be legit.)

Spam Cartel was very educational and gave me plenty of ideas as to how to keep my own spam filters up to speed. I also find myself examining the spam that does get through and understanding why. Knowledge is power - and this book is full of information. However, it does seem to get a little repetitive at time and the title is a bit of a misnomer - I would have gone with "Confessions of a Spammer" or something cliché like that. :)