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Spam waste the time of Internet users as well as getting on their nerves. Employees in many companies battle daily with a glut of spam mails, and this time-consuming examination of incoming mail results in losses in productivity. Personal users also lose their enjoyment of electronic mail when they are regularly forced to rummage through large quantities of - mostly dubious - spam mails before they can see the contents of their mail inbox clearly.

Such spam mails frequently advertise pornography, penis lengthening, breast enlargement, travel offers and so forth, and result in costs of the order of billions worldwide each year. And there are even health risks: so-called 'pharma spam' is used to advertise and sell allegedly brand-name medicines at bargain prices. Taking these preparations - which not uncommonly are bogus - can in the worst cases be life-threatening.

However, spam mails have long ceased merely to sell goods and services. Today these unwanted mails often contain job offers, which are used by shrewd tricksters to recruit 'financial agents'. These are unsuspecting Internet users who respond in good faith to the jobs offered and, once awarded a 'job', unsuspectingly make their personal bank account available for criminal dealings.

Direct procedures and spam prevention

naiin uncovers spam campaigns and their perpetrators, identifies zombie networks and other technical structures that are misused for sending spam messages, and works closely with the relevant Internet providers to tackle the spammers. In addition, naiin establishes technical and legal measures for both proactive and preventive actions against spam and supports Internet providers in implementing them.

Also decisive for naiin in this respect is to work towards anti-spam rules in international law and to educate Internet users with regard to spam protection and avoidance. Simply a responsible attitude towards the handling of one's own data is helpful for reducing spam, and it is important to maintain up-to-date anti-virus software in order to avoid unwittingly being used as a spammer oneself.