This basically works exactly like a virus checker but with instead of detecting viruses and deleting the files it detects spam and deletes the e-mail.
OK this ones pretty simple. A mail-reader or a patch for a mail-reader or simply a little util that connects to your mail server and deletes SPAM based on some simple rules or patterns without downloading it.
This may be baked but couldn't find anything like it anywhere.
To make this more effective a centralised list could be held on a server of known spam e-mail signitures which can be updated locally whenever. basically like Norton Live-Update.
If someone can write into a util or patch for Outlook Express they would basically eliminate spam as a viable selling method and possibly eliminate it all together. (Who would spend time/money sending it when they are 90% sure it will be deleted without the recipient even knowing about it?)
Added benefit: This would not require the help of any ISP!
Can I just point out now that this idea if not already in use is now copyright (C) 2002 to me... :-) (It's that good an idea!)-- CasaLoco, Feb 15 2002 ID your server http://grc.com/id/idserve.htmKeep your watchdog on a short leash. [reensure, Feb 15 2002] Related Idea http://www.halfbake...20Spam_20ProtectionShameless self-promotion plus some good links. [st3f, Feb 18 2002] BrightMail http://www.brightmail.com/Quite baked, here is one company whose entire business is providing this service for others' email servers (including Earthlink and soon Hotmail) [krelnik, Oct 19 2002] Spamassasssssin http://spamassassin.taint.org/Implements what jutta suggested, amongst other things. [cp, Oct 19 2002] Think I'll start coding this in VB tonight. Any advice from anyone?-- CasaLoco, Feb 15 2002 I can delete most of the spam I would get by filtering out all incoming messages that contain "aol" or "msn". They go directly to the Deleted Items folder and when I close Outlook they're gonzo! However, a script that could detect common patterns for spam and act accordingly would be useful. For example, I don't think I know anyone with the email address "ao90sd87fkhlwer@..."-- georgie, Feb 15 2002 I'm not oppossed to the idea, but how would you keep the list of spammers updated, considering that many of them change their e-mail address randomly with every message?
ex.
dogyellowcat@.... doggreencat@.... catreddog@.... yellowdogcat@...-- seal, Feb 15 2002 I'd like to have a mail filter that actually read the source of the message, and there'd be where I set my parameters. Explorer can filter for BCC:<me>, which outdoes many spammers -- but beyond that, the price to automatically delete spam rises as I add criteria to my filtering rules.
I'd much rather look for <octet stream> and route it to a Suspected Spam folder, for the trash after I had time to review it. That's just an example, but I can't now place a filter in place for the multifarious file types that come in (I'm currently trying to get a grip on webtv).-- reensure, Feb 15 2002 'Realtime black hole list'. All you need is an ISP that uses it...-- StarChaser, Feb 16 2002 A few simple filters could be created to start with... for example any mail that arrives in your account but which doesn't have your correct e-mail address in the To or cc boxed... I get tons of junk mail but can't work out which account it was sent to as it doesn't say....
Another one is to look for garbage from address. The main one is using pattern matching... the first person to get a mail that passes the filter forwards it to a central address that updates the id list with the new junk mail and no-one else will receive that mail...-- CasaLoco, Feb 16 2002 They may send 10 times as much but at least *I* wont be getting any... :-P
I'm supprised ISP's haven't started doing something about it... it must cost them a fortune.-- CasaLoco, Feb 16 2002 You cannot copyright ideas (only texts).
Read the other ideas in this category first, together with the resources that they link to. You'll find that much of the suggested measures already exist. For example, "Distributed spam e-mail filtering" is something that you seem to mention also.
Bcc'ed e-mail also does not contain your e-mail address, and bounce messages don't have an SMTP FROM address. You may, for yourself, decide that nobody ever Bcc's you, and you're not interested in knowing whether your e-mails could not reach their recipients, but I would hate to see widely used "spam-proofing" software that makes these assumptions on behalf of its naive users. (UnaBubba's blunt assertion that "if it's important, someone will tell you" could be made for any other act of communication as well.)
I don't actually know this, but I think virus protection software looks for signature strings inside the decoded e-mail contents. It would be fun to see a set of rules for the textual contents of a message that flags likely spam based on what the text actually says.-- jutta, Feb 17 2002 Yahoo's spam filter on their email is an example of this; it directs all suspected spam into a "bulk mail" folder, and allows you to submit examples of spam that it misses. It did however once decide a message to me from po was spam (true story), and it also judges the various automatic email notifications i get are spam, so I just end up reading my bulk mail folder the same as my inbox. My pet hate isn't so much spam as email newsletters which you sign up for and then can't work out how to cancel. If you protect your email address and are careful, you shouldn't get much spam (unless you're on AOL, in which case ha ha ha ha!)-- pottedstu, Feb 18 2002 I like the unsolicited junk e-mail which says that, under Federal Statute no. whatever-it-is, this cannot be regarded as spam as it's a one-off mailing, and you can un-register by clicking HERE (thereby demonstrating that you're a real person, so we can bombard you with more one-off mailings).-- angel, Feb 18 2002 //isn't so much spam as email newsletters which you sign up for // Actually I get pretty annoyed with the ones you didn't sign up for but "were signed on to the list via an affiliate website" or email-list. Three weeks ago I went through the SPAM senders and unsubscribed every one that I could. My SPAM intake the next day was doubled. I suspect that they went and sold my email address to other emailing lists in order to make unsolicited profit.-- CrumbsDM, Oct 19 2002 random, halfbakery