Yet another Elecraft archive

[Julian, G4ILO]

Wondering why spam has started arriving at this email address, which I set up specifically to use for this reflector, I searched for it on Google. I found the address in an archive of the reflector on Google Groups (http://groups.google.com/group/elecraft-archive). Unfortunately, in this archive, all email addresses are in clear and therefore accessible to spambots.

[David Woolley (E.L)]

G4ILO wrote:
> Wondering why spam has started arriving at this email address, which I set up
> specifically to use for this reflector, I searched for it on Google. I found
> the address in an archive of the reflector on Google Groups
> (http://groups.google.com/group/elecraft-archive). Unfortunately, in this
> archive, all email addresses are in clear and therefore accessible to

They are not in the clear.  The tail end of the username is replaced by
"...".  On the other hand, the obfuscation on qth.net is so trivial that
I'm sure that most spambots de-obfuscate it without any thought these
days.  I believe that qth.net is big enough to be worth specific
targetting by spammers, although Google is, obviously, a prime target.

Spammers also subscribe to legitimate lists.  Although that is mainly to
spam through them, I'm sure they capture email addresses whilst they are
doing it.

The other big threat, and possibly the biggest threat in this case, is
that another member of the list will have had their PC compromised, in
which case you can assume that all the addresses in their address book
will be known to spammers; many email clients automatically add new
addresses, and the actual mailboxes can also be trawled.

Unless you only communicate with a closed circle of PC security experts,
you should work on the principle that the spammers will find you,
sooner, or later.

> spambots.


--
David Woolley
Emails are not formal business letters, whatever businesses may want.
RFC1855 says there should be an address here, but, in a world of spam,
that is no longer good advice, as archive address hiding may not work.
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[g3ymc]

David Woolley-3 wrote

G4ILO wrote:
> Wondering why spam has started arriving at this email address, which I set up
> specifically to use for this reflector, I searched for it on Google. I found
> the address in an archive of the reflector on Google Groups
> (http://groups.google.com/group/elecraft-archive). Unfortunately, in this
> archive, all email addresses are in clear and therefore accessible to

They are not in the clear.  The tail end of the username is replaced by
"...".  On the other hand, the obfuscation on qth.net is so trivial that
I'm sure that most spambots de-obfuscate it without any thought these
days.  I believe that qth.net is big enough to be worth specific
targetting by spammers, although Google is, obviously, a prime target.

I have certainly found that if I do a google search on my email address the one (and usually only) place where it turns up is on the qth.net archives (this list and another there I subscribe to). Clearly there is deficiency in this area, despite them saying they are protected.

As an aside, I am posting this via the Nabble web interface. I wonder if my real email address gets archived in the qth.net one? And secondly, does this message actually get to the email list, there have been suggestions that some of the Nabble ones don't...?

My spam seems to have dropped to an all time low of one or two a day, but maybe I shouldn't say that in case the spammers hear...

73 Dave G3YMC

[Thom LaCosta]

At 01:13 PM 1/5/2008, G3YMC wrote:

>I have certainly found that if I do a google search on my email address the
>one (and usually only) place where it turns up is on the qth.net archives
>(this list and another there I subscribe to). Clearly there is deficiency in
>this area, despite them saying they are protected.

While it's true that qth.net is not as great as they tell us it is,
your address shows up in a few other places....perhaps they are
hosted on qth.net?

lists.contesting.com
www.dsergeant.btinternet.co.uk/
dayton.contesting.com
mlblog.osdir.com/

The bulk of the hits I saw in a google search are at lists.contesting.com

>My spam seems to have dropped to an all time low of one or two a day, but
>maybe I shouldn't say that in case the spammers hear...


Perhaps I misread your post...but your address is in the clear, wide
open on your web site.

Security by obscurity may not be the best method to combat spam...or
so I''ve read.

73,
Thom

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