Focus On: Spam

The Anti-Phishing Working Group promotes itself as the Protector of Phishing Victims. Email Battles points out that there would be a lot fewer phishing victims if APWG members cleaned up their e-marketing act.

The CAN-SPAM Act supposedly protects you from spammers you don't know. But what about the clowns in your office who force their political wisdom and/or sense of humor on you, along with the rest of their address book? Turns out, CAN-SPAM even reserves a special place for dorks.

Tired of glitzy email loaded with hidden phishing links? Bored by inscrutable messages with artwork replaced by red x's? Instead of whining at your network manager, you may want to put the blame where it lies: the inconsiderate sender. You can help educate them by sending them before-and-after pictures of their masterpieces... Before the spam filter, and after. Email Battles shows you how by working over a Zone Labs pitch.

Traditionally, the lion's share of phishing messages were broadcast to huge prospect-pools, like eBay, PayPal, Wells Fargo, etc. But as these big pools get overphished, anglers cast for stiller waters. The idea: Phish who haven't been hooked, aren't yet wary...

A whole industry has sprung up to protect you, the idiot consumer, from phishing email. But now that the secret's out, you know something the Anti-Phishing Industry apparently doesn't. Phishing email can't exist without the incompetent marketers who make it easy for thugs to impersonate them.