CNN Money is running a story about a new IBM service that "spams the spammers." The idea behind the technology is that when a spam email is received, it is immediately sent back to the originating computer - not an email account. Or so they say.
Interesting idea, and you can find more via Shlashdot... including an early commenter who points out that CNN's description of the system and what IBM's FairUCE actually does paint very different pictures. Nor is this the only the only thing the article gets blatantly wrong. Is it too much to ask that the media hire reporters who actually understand their subjects? (this Australian reporter, who writes about open-source software and Firefox browser adoption in businesses, clearly does).
BTW, note IBM's integration requirements description for FairUCE:
"The FairUCE concept is currently implemented as an SMTP proxy that runs between multiple instances of Postfix on Linux. QMail and Sendmail support are being considered. It should be possible to use existing mail server(s) on the inside of the proxy; Postfix is currently required on the outside (optionally on a separate boundary server, protecting one's regular servers from most spam). End-users cannot install FairUCE at this time; end-users, please direct your mail administrator to this page."
That might not be a bad idea. As the Winds of Change.NET Guide to Fighting Comment Spam notes, there's no such thing as a single complete solution to cyber-security problems like spam. Based on IBM's description and FairUCE's FAQ, however, it seems like a step forward.
I wonder if we could convince them to share their technology as part of future blogging systems that would help us fight trackback and comment spam?
What CNN describes is incorporated in the K-Mail e-mail client for the KDE X-Windows manager has such a feature. Get a spam, select "message-->Bounce" feature and a "unknown user' bounce message is generated and you can send it to the source of the spam.
Problem is spam messages are often sent with forged headers and are often times the return addresses are completely bogus.