Spam Blocker Information

Wiki Reek-y Havoc


The Vandals are coming! And this time they're after your wallets.

It's a new form of insidious spam and like its inbred email cousin, it's staggeringly stupid.

People are vandalizing "Wikis" in an attempt to get free advertising for their business.

First, what's a wiki?

If you're not familiar with this little web phenomenon, you should immediately dig in and learn. "Wiki" (pronounced "wee kee") is Hawaiian for "quick." And quick it is. The word is used on the web for a page that *anyone* can edit.

When I first heard of this concept I immediately thought "there is no way it will work - it will be utter chaos" but the mass proliferation of wikis and their clear success have proven me wrong.

The medium lends itself to some amazing ideas. For example, the "wikipedia" project is an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. It's surprisingly accurate and useful.

Alas, as with all great things on the Internet, there are forces out there ready and willing to muck it up for everyone.

A "wiki vandal" is someone who goes to a wiki and posts erroneous information. Sometimes this is for fun (like posting your boss's phone number and sexual habits under a wiki entry about "bondage" - hehe), sometimes it's for damage (like totally erasing an entry just because you are bitter about life), and sometimes it's for advertising (like editing an entry with links to your bazillion dollar business "op*ortunity").

Luckily, there are people out there watching the wikis who will change erroneous information quickly. However, sometimes the vandalism is hard to catch and it sticks.

Now, if the wiki vandals were smart, they'd create a relevant encyclopedia entry about themselves and link to it from other wiki entries.

Do it relevantly and intelligently enough and it may just stick and bring you some appropriate attention.

But, of course, we're talking about spammers here, and there is already an encyclopedia entry for "Down's Syndrome."

Copyright 2004 Val Halla

About The Author

Val Halla researches Internet Marketing Oddities. You can be alerted when she discovers something odd enough and important enough to merit your attention when you visit her site: http://www.webgodessvalhalla.com. She may be reached at: webgoddessvalhalla@yahoo.com


MORE RESOURCES:

When 'Viagra' Comments on Your Blog, and Other Spam Red Flags
PCWorld
Matt Mullenweg, the creator of WordPress, actually created a spam blocker for WordPress called Akismet in 2005, partially so his mom wouldn't be assaulted by Viagra ads while writing her blog. Today, spam blockers do a good job of nabbing most spam, ...

and more »


Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2012 review
PC Advisor
Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2012 starts out with traditional modules, including AV protection, an improved firewall, a spam blocker, parental control, a system tuner, protection against data theft and 10GB of online storage.



WatchGuard Breaks Quarterly Billings, Profit and Units Shipped Records
MarketWatch (press release)
Currently, WatchGuard offers seven add on security services for XTM appliances, including: Application Control, WebBlocker, Gateway Antivirus, Reputation Enabled Defense, spamBlocker, Intrusion Prevention and LiveSecurity.

and more »


When 'Viagra' Comments on Your Blog, and Other Spam Red Flags
IDG News Service
Matt Mullenweg, the creator of WordPress, actually created a spam blocker for WordPress called Akismet in 2005, partially so his mom wouldn't be assaulted by Viagra ads while writing her blog. Comment spam, also known as blogspam, has existed since the ...

and more »


NEWS ROUND-UP: The latest from WatchGuard, Compuware, and Island Pacific
ARNnet
WatchGuard currently offers seven add-on security services for XTM appliances: Application Control, WebBlocker, Gateway Antivirus, Reputation Enabled Defence, spamBlocker, Intrusion Prevention, and LiveSecurity. Technology performance company ...

and more »


Tucson victim stalked for nearly 2 decades
Tucson Citizen
... in consequence of which she tells numerous falsehoods to create the illusion of danger, purely to get someone incarcerated for up to 10 years merely because she doesn't want to use the spam blocker of her e-mail address account,” Shepard wrote.

and more »


Gothamist

After Stalking Woman For 18 Years, Man Faces Five Year Sentence
Gothamist
... conscience or both, in consequence of which she tells numerous falsehoods to create the illusion of danger, purely to get someone incarcerated for up to 10 years merely because she doesn't want to use the spam blocker of her e-mail address account.

and more »


Demand for business security 'at an all-time high'
TechDay.co.nz
... core SMB market is 'solid', the company is experiencing 'accelerated demand' among mid-market and enterprise organisations, Robertson adds. Users are also increasingly taking up add-on services, such as Application Control, WebBlocker and spamBlocker.



ITespresso.fr

Sécurité IT : l'éditeur WatchGuard veut séduire les TPE et les PME
ITespresso.fr
... sécurité spécifiques comme le WebBlocker de WatchGuard (blocage des sites Web malveillants et des contenus Web inappropriés), le spamBlocker ou encore le Reputation Enabledd Defense, un service cloud de protection contextuelle contre les menaces.



Anti-Spam-Lösung für Unternehmen erhält Update
IT-Business
... das Reporting und Backups für geschützte Exchange-Cluster zentralisieren. Die Anti-Spam-Lösung ist Teil der Unternehmenslösung Kaspersky Open Space Security. Neben dem reinen Spam-Blocker gehören auch Antivirus-Funktionen mit zum Lieferumfang.

and more »

Google News

home | site map
© 2006