[IP] Firm retaliates against cyberattacks; some fear it will make matters worse
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Dave Farber +1 412 726 9889
...... Forwarded Message .......
From: gep2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: dfarber@xxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 14:01:40 -0500
Subj: [IP] Firm retaliates against cyberattacks; some fear it will make
matters worse
The real problems with stuff like this, as attractive as it is (even just
to
ping or fetch the referenced Web page from the server being promoted...
which
would SEEM at first blush like a good idea for an automated antispam
filter) are
that (and this list is not intended to be exhaustive!):
1) It BECOMES a mechanism for DDOS attacks and Joe-Jobs; sending a spam
with
a forged origin or target URL can result in massively distributed
retaliation
against an innocent VICTIM rather than the real perpetrator.
2) URLs are often encoded to turn them into Web bugs; even just
fetching a
referenced Web page is enough to tell the spammer that you've received the
spam
and that your E-mail address is a "good!" one.
Gordon Peterson http://personal.terabites.com/
1977-2002 Twenty-fifth anniversary year of Local Area Networking!
Support free and fair US elections! http://stickers.defend-democracy.org
12/19/98: Partisan Republicans scornfully ignore the voters they
"represent".
12/09/00: the date the Republican Party took down democracy in America.
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