Do Anti-Spam Programs Really Work?
by Vinny La Bash, vlabash@home.com Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. Among the most effective anti-spam programs are the ones that use some kind of approval based email management system. They work by constructing a “white list” of permitted email addresses, accepting mail from anyone on the list, and rejecting everything else. The program initially sniffs through your contact list, inbox, and other email folders, organizes the email addresses it finds, asks you if you want to add or change anything, and the list is complete. From that moment on, any incoming email that is not on the list is considered to be spam, and is automatically exiled to a quarantine folder or wherever you decided it should go during installation. The programs do work as advertised, which is both their greatest strength and their greatest weakness. Here’s what you need to know before installing one of these puppies. Scenario 1: A friend you have lost contact with over the years sends you
