What is spam, and why is it a problem?
Spam is sometimes referred to as unwanted junk mass e-mail. The California Business and Professions Code (Division 7, Part 3, Chapter 1, Article 1.8) describes it as consisting of unsolicited commercial e-mail advertisements. Spam is a problem because it: • May contain computer viruses that can cause serious damage to University computing resources. • May be sent by a counterfeit address that looks legitimate to trick recipients into taking a harmful action (like opening up a virus-infected attachment or divulging personal information). • May be annoying. • May take up valuable storage space on computers and servers. • Is an increasing drain on operating budgets (cost of unproductive time, anti-spam software, additional hardware, etc.). • Uses valuable and limited network bandwidth. • May contain inappropriate content.
