Topic -Spam is an ever-growing problem, with some network administrators reporting that 90% or moreof the email delivered to their mail servers is spam. Identify and briefly evaluate several approaches to combating spam that are in common use at present. What ideas are emerging from current research, and which of these do you think have a reasonable chance of success?

Spam mails are also known as junk mails or unsolicited bulk mails. Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems which includes most broadcast media, digital delivery systems etc. to send unsolicited bulk messages in bulk to numerous recipients. While the most widely recognized form of spam is e-mail spam, the term is applied to similar abuses in other media: instant messaging spam, Usenet newsgroup spam, Web search engine spam, spam in blogs, wiki spam, online classified ads spam, mobile phone messaging spam, Internet forum spam, social networking spam, television advertising and file sharing network spam. A fake profile in an online community , an unsolicited comment in log, a commercial unwelcomed thread in an online discussion boards etc are example of a new form of spamming techniques.

Spam is a major threat to the Internet security in the present scenario. According to the McAfee threat report , there were 153 billion spam messages per day in the year 2008 and over 90% of the emails were just spam. Web spambots are a new type of internet robot that spread spam content through applications like wikis, online discussion boards, blogs, social networking platforms etc. These robots are designed to act like humans in order to fool naive users and safeguards.

Network of virus infected computers, generally known as botnets are used to send spam. Spam mails not only levy a heavy cost on the network but are also a threat to the security of the recipient as certain spam mails lure the recipient to enter their confidential data like bank account details and passwords. Then the scrupulous spammers, rob the naïve recipients of their money.

Spam mails are a serious problem. Not only researchers and network administrators, but even the governments are working to combat this problem. Different countries have their jurisdictions and laws made and enforced to combat this problem.