First Letter in E-Mail Address Determines Amount of Spam

According to Richard Clayton, Security Researcher at Cambridge University, the UK, the first character in a user's e-mail address has a big role in the number of spam mails a person receives.

Clayton said that he found clues that if there is more number of first character in the user's e-mail address, higher amount of spam he would receive. For example, alice@company.com is likely to get more spam than zach@company.com or quincy@company.com. He said that it is simple because there are a large number of names starting with "A" than with "Q" or "Z", as reported by DarkReading on August 28, 2008.

Clayton, who analyzed around 8.9 Million e-mails at a ISP in the UK, discovered that those e-mail addresses that start with "A" received 35% spam, while those starting with "Z" received around 20%. This result came after separating genuine e-mails from fraudulent ones that probably were generated with a spamming device. According to Clayton, it is possible that spammers are employing attacks that are depended on dictionary letters, resulting in irregular distribution of junk e-mails.

Moreover, Clayton admitted that his research didn't eventually ascertain what he originally intended. He thought that alphabetical arrangement would dictate the amount of spam received. According to him, it is possible that since dictionary attacks are not frequent occurrences, the fake e-mail ID he saw probably listed in the database of spammers for a little while.

According to Matt Sergeant, Senior anti-spam Technologist, MessageLabs, the use of dictionary spam attacks that generate the maximum possible e-mail addresses based on alphabetical arrangements indicates to a traditional spammer rather than a progressive one, as reported by DarkReading on August 28, 2008. However, Sergeant added that while the trend represents a fun form of arrangements, it also provides some insight into spam mailers.

Furthermore, Clayton suggested that users having the unfortunate alphabets in their e-mail addresses should request their e-mail filter designer to work out a way in which this unanticipated empirical result could be used to stop increasing amount of their undesired e-mail, as reported by digitaljourmnl on August 28, 2008.

Related article: FIRST Reveals Staggering Rise in Computer Hacking in China

» SPAMfighter News - 9/4/2008