AntiSPAM: What are spam filters and how do they work?

curiously the word spam has a very different origin than many of us might think. And it is that this name comes from a brand of canned meat, which American soldiers received from their relatives during World War II.

But today in computing it has acquired a different name; it is known as an unsolicited message which generally refers to the sale of products and services without authorization. Therefore, it is usual to receive notifications that are not of personal interest.

Previously, these were only directed or better said, known in emails, but this has expanded to other platforms such as blogs, instant messaging, social networks and even mobile devices. For you to learn more about it, in the following tutorial we will explain step by step What is? How can spam filters help you? and more.

What is SPAM or junk email from my inbox?

As previously indicated, its name comes from an old brand of canned meat. Though, today it has a very different definition and is spam. Referring to unsolicited or unwanted messages. Mainly advertising type or those that are sent massively.

In the spam category too you have to add the messages that are sent for purposes fraudulent or malicious emails. Generally, these contain false information to carry out scams, so their sole objective is to obtain the recipient’s personal data.

But, this type of mail It is not only limited today to email, since social networks or instant messaging, such as WhatsApp, are also affected. Reason why we must be very attentive to what we receive on many occasions.

What is an AntiSPAM and what is this type of program for?

When we talk about anti-spam programs, whether for computers or mobile devices, we talk about these allow their users to eliminate or block all that mail that it considers unwanted, or that the person has marked in the same way.

What can they be used for? Simple, they serve to keep your email tray, your WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Twitter or other applications you use to communicate, free from these malicious and annoying ads.

It should be noted that this is not only allowed by programs or applications, can also be configured with email services such as: Gmail, Outlook and others, so that they block and send to the deleted messages folder, everything that has been considered as spam.

How does an Anti-SPAM work? Principal functions

They work by scanning all the messages that come to you, where in turn these are qualified around certain characteristics. Depending on the score, the release may or may not be considered spam.

After analyzing those who have entered, these can be: blocked, deleted or sent to the “Spam” folder. When they are marked as “Deleted”, it is not entirely true, since they are sent to the corresponding folder.

No notice of this type, under any circumstances is completely removed, because there may be cases where non-spam messages are categorized this way. So to prevent them from being deleted, these are archived until you review it and you are in charge of canceling or recovering them.

What are the types of Anti SPAM that exist and how do they differ?

There are two main types of anti spam, these are:

• Those that identify the spam message based on the characteristics it contains. This is reflected through a study, where they are reviewed and qualified. Depending on the qualities, they will receive a score, and the higher it is, the more likely they are to be considered or not.
• The spam filters that identify them use statistical approximations. This is somewhat similar to the above. But in these cases it is much more accurate. However, it requires prior help, this consists of the user manually identifying messages of this type.

  In this way, it learns about their characteristics, so that in the future it blocks all those that are cataloged as such with the details it previously learned.

In addition to this, we can see other varieties of filters, such as:

Bayesian spam filters

Bayesian filters work mainly with experience, and They learn from those messages that the users themselves mark as such. So they need other people to be effective and improve. In other words, if the user classifies an email as such, what they will do is compare those marked emails with others and create a database to discard them at once.

This type of filters can raise the alert by words or the use of some effects, for example: the word “FREE” is capitalized or the use of eye-catching fonts with colors, bold or yellow shading.

The lists they use are generated by detecting patterns, starting from emails that were manually marked as spam. So that In some cases, non-junk mail may be marked as such and appear in the spam folder.

Blacklists

Blacklists exclude any messages that come from certain IPs. These are databases that show addresses where bad actions have been carried out, such as mass mailing.

It works by mail servers that check if it is hosted there, in order to know whether to accept or reject the received mail. The problem arises when it cannot differentiate whether these are sent voluntarily. So you may without reason, find yourself in one of them.

The reasons may be the following:

• You may have sent a message to a spamtrap or trap mail, these are emails that the email service providers have created and that have no activity. They use it as an alarm method, to catch spammers.
• Your email has been hacked and they have sent messages automatically.
• Your computers were infected by a virus that sends emails constantly to anyone.

email firewalls

Firewalls also known as firewalls, they are nothing more than systems in charge of restricting unauthorized access to certain elements. Those work by rules that are established by the provider and its administrator. They typically use a combination of Bayesian filtering, blacklisting, and others to prevent spam.

So this will make all messages received or sent go through the firewall that will be responsible for examining each message, and if they do not meet any of the security criteria they will be blocked.

Challenge/response filters

Even though these are not as widely used, there are many that still implement them. It works as follows; if you send an email with this filter, and still the contact is not in that person’s friends list or address book, you will be considered a stranger. In such a way that you will be labeled as a spammer.

This to verify that you are or no, what it does is that an automatic response is sent to you with a question to answer or a link that you must enter, to prove that you are not a robot. In case of being labeled as such, all that remains is to talk to the recipient so that they include you in their list.

Spam filters based on your reputation

Reputation depends, as it says, on your position, that is, on the scores acquired by the sender’s identification. This filter is based on the sending IP address and the name of your domain used in sending the emails. If you do not have a reputation, they will be watching you, as this will measure your actions and that of your followers.

If you get a good reputation, you will get a good percentage through the people who open your campaigns and links in email messages.

Why should you use a spam protector? The dangers of SPAM and how to avoid it

It is important to use an anti-spam program or application, because These allow you to keep your e-mail accounts more secure. In such a way, that you can protect your personal information and the state of the equipment.

You should know that Spam doesn’t just exist from those that are sent as a repetitive or recurring message. If not, there are also those that may contain malware intended to steal your information or cause damage to your equipment. Such damage can be fixed or in the worst case not. It is common for it to happen for those inexperienced users or due to some carelessness.

In the same way, They allow you to save time by not having to review emails of this type, because even those senders who use fraudulent or not very credible accounts can be identified. The best way to avoid it is through any anti spam program.

We suggest that if you do not have them and you receive a suspicious email, never open the document or the link that comes attached to it.

On which platform can we be victims of SPAM besides email?

There are many platforms where you can be a victim of spam. Since, nowadays you can connect from any device to almost any platform.

blogging

The blogs are places where spam can usually existdue to users performing annoying practices to gain recognition, intimidate, or for unethical purposes.

Social networks

Those sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and many more, they usually send spam from pages that you do not follow, from other users or from any other similar content.

Forums

These types of websites are intended to share information or discussions mainly. But, there are cases where malicious users use it to spam various things.

Instant messaging

Believe it or not, instant messengers can be spammed, and not just through text messages. You can also receive them through platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype and others.

Within game platforms

It is common for online games to have options to add friends or send messages. In such a way that by these means spam messages can also be sent that only generate annoyance, or that can steal the user’s information.

In summary, spam can affect virtually any area. Either for annoying purposes, to discredit or for more dangerous purposes. Therefore, it is very important to be attentive to this type of modality.