Customer Reviews

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

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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

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.

Goodman writes mostly for the nontechnical email user, about the scourge of spam. He gives a very readable description of how email grew since 1969. Alas, as he points out, those were innocent days, when social pressure amongst the few academic users sufficed to restrict anything like spam. And besides, the audience was too small for spam to be economic.

But now with millions of users, spammers have great incentive to spam. The book takes you through nice descriptions of various spammer tricks. Also discussed are the main antispam ideas, like Bayesians, challenge response and blacklists. The conclusion is sobering. Goodman is unaware of any solution to this open wound. The spammer maggots continue to gorge themselves on the Internet.

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...

There is one classic book that sits on my bookshelf and shows the wear and tear of repeated use and that book is the JavaScript Bible by Danny Goodman. So when I found that Goodman had written a book about the eternal struggle against spam and phishing scams, I really wanted to get my hands on a copy of Spam Wars: Our Last Best Chance to Defeat Spammers, Scammers, and Hackers (Select Books, 2004, ISBN 1-59079-063-4, 330 pages) to see his take on this subject.

In a writing style that would make "Dr. Phil" proud, Goodman pulls no punches in providing a tough love narrative weaving history, challenges, and opportunities to attack this enemy head on and win the war. At US$12.21 a copy on Amazon, there is no reason potential readers should hesitate to buy a copy for themselves and copies for all their well meaning friends and relatives who do the stupid behaviors that spammers more than profit from.

Goodman makes no apologies for his approach to the topic and the fact that it is driven by his personal philosophies, but unlike the author of another spam title I recently reviewed, he gets his research and facts right, not only providing citations but links to source documents. From his "outing" of the first commercial spam from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) on ARPANET in 1978, to his plain English explanations of how email is routed, to his line by line explanations of what is contained in email headers, Goodman undertakes and successfully delivers content for the lay audience, as well as technical readers.

In some ways, Goodman may be overly optimistic that if the economic vitality that fuels spam is cut off, then the problem will go away. I myself have fought too many unsuccessful uphill battles with family and friends to either not forward mass e-mails or learn the simple BCC concept. But there is much more likelihood of success if we do this. Why? Because as Goodman illustrates very well, lobbyists and special interests have very successfully watered down any attempts at real legislation with teeth, and even the most rigid laws stop at our borders. He also shows how the original developers of the Internet are the real root cause of the problem, regardless of how good their intentions were.

And his book also educates beyond technology and spam/scams. He teaches you about things like the fact that you do not have to return a warranty card to a manufacturer to have protections of the warranty. He talks about elements of social engineering not often discussed: the use of certain words and phrases to exploit the god-fearing, the bleeding hearts, and the lonely.

So if you want yet another great reference book from Danny Goodman, then this book fits the bill. The only fault I have with the book and hopefully the publisher can address this is that this book was not released under a Creative Commons License like "We The Media". The reason for this is that Goodman wants the content and "gospel" passed onto as many people as possible. Creative Commons licensing would have definitely jumpstarted this effort, since there are no handy download documents or information sheets that can easily be distributed to others. However, I view this as gravy and in no way detracts from this book.

Who Should Read This Book?

Everybody. This includes you, your significant other, your grandmother, your neighbor, and/or anybody else who uses the Internet and really needs to understand the consequences of their behaviours.

The Scorecard

Double Eagle on a Par 5

In today's age, it is incredible how many companies still put employees' names and e-mail addresses on their websites. This data is vulnerable to extraction by "robots" that then put this information on multiple spam lists. Our marketing department made the mistake of creating a "Key Contacts" tab on our website. Our entire sales department was inundated with illicit e-mails containing phishing viruses. Some employees opened these e-mails, which automatically sent them to every other employee in the company. Fortunately our IT department was able to contain the problem by updating the network software and performing some quick remedial action.

I was traveling in Asia at the time and I opened one of the forwarded e-mails. My name and e-mail address was forwarded to all of these illicit websites and a number of my customers and colleagues started to receive colorful e-mails from me. Some of them had a sense of humor about it while others were not as understanding. Our IT department also ultimately contained this but, because of the time difference, I had forwarded the problem on to outside parties. This embarrassing situation was created by putting our contact information on our website in a searchable (text) format. If you are going to put this sensitive data on your website, post it as an image that cannot be searched by the deadly robots out there.
Richard Somplatsky

The book is great for the experts, geeks, average user and the inexperienced newbie who just went "online" and started using email.

It goes into details but yet explains things in a way that can be understood by anybody. The power of metaphors and examples from the offline world from everyday life do the trick.

This book is the most comprehensive book to the subject of email spam, its various forms, its purpose and why it is so hard to stop it.

If you already receive a lot of spam an wonder why you got it, even though you did everything correctly and protected your email like you protect your credit card numbers, read the book. Even if you did not receive a lot of spam, read the book, no, YOU have to read the book.

I would also suggest it to anybody who just went online and thus is vulnerable to phishing and 419 fraud due to the lack of experience.

You are reading this review, which means that you are online. Don't browse away without buying this book!

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.