Quick Review of MIT spam conference
Well it was a nice trip to MIT. Here is the quick and dirty of it: Caveat: I missed the 2 first presentations. Damn traffic! No new "WOW!" techniques were introduced. There were some decent data analysis but nothing that screamed it would flag a large volume of spam. The techniques that were introduced seemed to be pretty CPU intense to me. IBM looked to have a solid model but some parts of their system bothered me. Particularly the ability, at least in their flow chart, to allow people to train the global bayes DB. Lots of other good stats presented by numerous people. But that was a lot of the conference, analysis of data. Some ideas, IMHO, were ridiculous. Had these people posted their papers to spam-l they would have been nailed to a cross. I truly believe these people meant well, but had tunnel vision. "Regulation Instead of Stopping" presented by the guys from Georgia had me biting my lip! The idea that a 3rd party arbitrator should handle email requests set off so many red flags I thought I was going to faint. "Spam Kings" by Brian McWilliams. NICE book! I wrestled my free copy from the pile. Done reading it by Sunday. Very low on technical explanations, but good insight into spammers. "You've Got Jail. Some First Hand Observations from the Jeremy Jaynes Spam Trial" Jon Praed, Founding Partner, Internet Law Group. Stole the show! Could have listened to him all day! Finally a lawyer I actually like ;) Other legislative ideas seemed very flawed. VERY FLAWED. During the French presentation, they were explaining how much better their laws were and how they were working with EU and international groups. When someone asked them how many people had been prosecuted under this fantastic, almost 2 year old, law, and she answered "None" I think the entire auditorium whispered "NEXT!" "Using Lexigraphical Distancing to Block Spam" Jonathan Oliver, Director of Research, MailFrontier, Inc. This has seemed to be an interesting problem in a lot of the conferences. Private company says they got this technique to fight spam. But its private and can't go into specific detail on how they do it. And most likely it is patented. So its not as helpful to the community. Although I liked the idea, it also felt VERY intensive to me. I could see their DB getting big very fast. Big whitelist as well! Bayes, bayes, and more bayes. Everyone seemed to be talking about using bayes in different ways. I was SO HAPPY to see a few others felt the same way as I did. Bayes ROCKS for a private email account with a techie kind of owner. But as a more global/luser solution, it just isn't going to work well at all. And I don't see it scaling to something like AOL. (Not much does!) The best part of the trip were the side discussions. Finally meeting people face to face. Many people have the same thoughts ideas that I have had. For instance some of the best minds in antispam make ZERO dollars from fighting spam. I really found that interesting how many antis would like a full time career in it. This included the discussion of *hypothetically* going to the dark side. No one seriously considering it, but discussing about how we knew the weaknesses of the current anti-spam measures. Very interesting stuff. Frankly I think a day of round table discussion groups would have been even better then having presentations. Ideas were debated during dinner and that was a blast! Also January in Cambridge. I thought antis were smart? :) I've NEVER seen so many people sleep sitting up! Tai desserts? I'm still not sure what was in it, but I swear there is a squirrel somewhere who can't reproduce. "Is your saki hot?" is a good pickup line. The MIT train room, is more then a train room. Its Tetris! ;) As soon as it gets warmer, I owe someone up north a dinner! Warmer! Hopefully I can make the spam conference on the wrong coa I mean West coast. How about those Patriots!! Dynasty baby!! :-) Chris Santerre System Admin and SARE/SURBL Ninja http://www.rulesemporium.com http://www.surbl.org 'It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.' Charles Darwin
Re: [SURBL-Discuss] Flyer for MIT spam conference?
On Wednesday, January 5, 2005, 3:10:49 AM, Jose Cruz wrote: > Happy new year, folks, > Jeff Chan wrote: >> I hope folks going to the MIT spam conference will please >> consider mentioning SURBLs at least informally. In case >> it's useful, I've updated the flyer I gave out at CEAS: >> >> http://www.surbl.org/flyer.html >> >> Comments are welcomed. > You forgot to mention j-chkmail, which supports surbl since april 2004, > probably > the oldest one, other than SpamAssassin. > Joe It's implicit as part of sendmail support. Jeff C. -- Jeff Chan mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.surbl.org/
Re: Flyer for MIT spam conference?
Brilliant! Nice reference. > From: Chris Santerre <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 10:25:33 -0500 > To: SURBL Discuss <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Cc: SpamAssassin Users > Subject: RE: Flyer for MIT spam conference? > > > >> -Original Message- >> From: Jeff Chan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 5:19 PM >> To: SURBL Discuss >> Cc: SpamAssassin Users >> Subject: Flyer for MIT spam conference? >> >> >> I hope folks going to the MIT spam conference will please >> consider mentioning SURBLs at least informally. In case >> it's useful, I've updated the flyer I gave out at CEAS: >> >> http://www.surbl.org/flyer.html >> >> Comments are welcomed. > > How about T-Shirts that read: > > -- SURBL -- > All your domains are, belong to us. > > ;) > > --Chris >
RE: Flyer for MIT spam conference?
>-Original Message- >From: Jeff Chan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 5:19 PM >To: SURBL Discuss >Cc: SpamAssassin Users >Subject: Flyer for MIT spam conference? > > >I hope folks going to the MIT spam conference will please >consider mentioning SURBLs at least informally. In case >it's useful, I've updated the flyer I gave out at CEAS: > > http://www.surbl.org/flyer.html > >Comments are welcomed. How about T-Shirts that read: -- SURBL -- All your domains are, belong to us. ;) --Chris
Flyer for MIT spam conference?
I hope folks going to the MIT spam conference will please consider mentioning SURBLs at least informally. In case it's useful, I've updated the flyer I gave out at CEAS: http://www.surbl.org/flyer.html Comments are welcomed. Jeff C. -- "If it appears in hams, then don't list it."
Re: MIT Spam conference
On Dec 17, 2004, at 4:39 PM, Chris Santerre wrote: :) J/K, my goal is to get my eyeball as close to the webcast camera. Just so when I come home I can DL the movie and say "There is my eyeball" Well, that'll be touch to reach it if it was set up like last year... big TV type camera with a real guy operating it and seats all around it blocked off... smime.p7s Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature
Re: MIT Spam conference
Daniel Quinlan wrote: William Stearns <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: ...snip... If you're ever in the SF Bay Area and would like to get together, drop me a line. I've met with Jeff a few times. if any of you are ever in tokyo, i'd be down for meeting up for drinks or something. alan
Re: [SURBL-Discuss] Re: MIT Spam conference
On Monday, December 20, 2004, 11:34:34 PM, Daniel Quinlan wrote: > William Stearns <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >> I'll be attending the MIT spam conference this year, Jan 21st, >> 9-5. Details at http://www.spamconference.org/ . The registration is >> free, but they suggest an early registration before the conference fills >> up. > Last year, it was awesome to meet up with SpamAssassin developers and > other anti-spam folks, but the MIT spam conference itself was > disappointing for the second year in a row. It: > - was full of poorly reviewed papers of anecdotal information > - was unbelievably cold (both inside and outside) > - uncomfortable to sit in circa-1965 wood chairs >> I'd love a chance to meet other people working on spamassassin and >> surbl. Is anyone else planning on attending? > I'd love to meet you and other SURBL/SA people. If you want to attend a > peer-reviewed anti-spam conference with heating, a pleasant climate, and > comfortable seating, I can definitely recommend CEAS. > If you're ever in the SF Bay Area and would like to get together, drop > me a line. I've met with Jeff a few times. > Daniel Yes, CEAS was pretty good and it was nice to meet some of the SA and anti-spam folks from around the world. One of the flaws is that it's not strictly focussed on spam, but some of the related topics are at least tangentially interesting. FWIW here's the Call for Papers from CEAS: __ Subject: Conference on Email and Anti-Spam Preliminary Call for Papers Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 10:44:43 -0800 From: "Joshua Goodman" (MicroSoft) To: The Second Conference on Email and Anti-Spam (CEAS) In Cooperation with The International Association for Cryptologic Research and The IEEE Technical Committee on Security and Privacy Preliminary Call for Papers July 21-22, 2005 (Thurs,Fri) Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA http://www.ceas.cc General Conference Chair: Joshua Goodman (Microsoft Research) Program Co-Chairs: *Josh Alspector (AOL) *Tom Fawcett (HP) *Andrew McCallum (UMass) The Conference on Email and Anti-Spam (CEAS) invites the submission of papers for its second meeting. Papers are invited on all aspects of email, instant messaging, cell phone text messaging, and voice over internet protocol (VoIP). This includes spam, spit (spam over internet telephony), spim (spam over instant messenger), phishing and identity theft via messaging, viruses, spyware, etc. including research papers, industry reports, and law and policy papers. Research: Computer science oriented academic-style research Industry: Descriptions of important or innovative products Law, Policy, and Economics: Legal, policy, and economic papers * Research papers include experimental or theoretical, academic-style papers on all aspects of messaging and abuses, including but not limited to: Techniques for stopping email, VoIP and IM spam, including Machine learning techniques Postage techniques Proof-of-work Challenge-response Human Interactive Proofs (or CAPTCHAs) Disposable email addresses Protocols for sender authentication and verification Digital signatures Proof of group membership Role of spam as a malware vector Spam traceback New features for email and messaging systems Automatic foldering of email Categorizing messages Message search Clustering messages Advanced calendaring and scheduling Digital rights management for email and digital messages Public Key Infrastructure for messaging * Industry papers describe products or systems (commercial or open source) and matters of commercial or practical interest. Papers claiming excellent results should include good experimental or theoretical evidence supporting the claims. Example topics include: Industry cooperation for stopping messaging abuse New standards and interoperability For spam, spit, spim filters and authentication For calendaring and scheduling Public key infrastructure for encryption and identity Digital rights management New products, especially those with novel features * Legal, policy and financial papers focus on topics such as What new laws or social institutions are most appropriate for messaging? Legal strategies against spam, phishing, and spyware The CAN-SPAM act and potential FTC regulations International legal approaches What should be done about phishing and other message scams? The economics of spam, spim, spit, phishing The economic effects of per-message charges (postage) Email, IM, VoIP and identity: who should control it? Privacy for email, IM, VoIP, and chat Messaging in the workplace. * In all three areas, submissions closely related to mess
Re: MIT Spam conference
William Stearns <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > I'll be attending the MIT spam conference this year, Jan 21st, > 9-5. Details at http://www.spamconference.org/ . The registration is > free, but they suggest an early registration before the conference fills > up. Last year, it was awesome to meet up with SpamAssassin developers and other anti-spam folks, but the MIT spam conference itself was disappointing for the second year in a row. It: - was full of poorly reviewed papers of anecdotal information - was unbelievably cold (both inside and outside) - uncomfortable to sit in circa-1965 wood chairs > I'd love a chance to meet other people working on spamassassin and > surbl. Is anyone else planning on attending? I'd love to meet you and other SURBL/SA people. If you want to attend a peer-reviewed anti-spam conference with heating, a pleasant climate, and comfortable seating, I can definitely recommend CEAS. If you're ever in the SF Bay Area and would like to get together, drop me a line. I've met with Jeff a few times. Daniel -- Daniel Quinlan http://www.pathname.com/~quinlan/
Re: [SURBL-Discuss] MIT Spam conference
Yarg. I hate it when this happens. Maybe it's free, but it's still ~$600 to get me there and back, and I can't write it off or cover it personally just now. Ummm... Hey! Anybody want to pay me to program some stuff or write some rules or something? :-) I'll take good notes. :-) - Ryan William Stearns wrote to ML-spamassassin-talk and ml-surbl-discuss on Fri,...: Good day, all, I'll be attending the MIT spam conference this year, Jan 21st, 9-5. Details at http://www.spamconference.org/ . The registration is free, but they suggest an early registration before the conference fills up. I'd love a chance to meet other people working on spamassassin and surbl. Is anyone else planning on attending? Cheers, - Bill --- "God grant me the senility to accept the things I cannot change, The frustration to try to change things I cannot affect, and the wisdom to tell the difference." (Courtesy of Mike Ricketts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>) -- William Stearns ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). Mason, Buildkernel, freedups, p0f, rsync-backup, ssh-keyinstall, dns-check, more at: http://www.stearns.org -- ___ Discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.surbl.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss -- Ryan Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> SaskNow Technologies - http://www.sasknow.com 901-1st Avenue North - Saskatoon, SK - S7K 1Y4 Tel: 306-664-3600 Fax: 306-244-7037 Saskatoon Toll-Free: 877-727-5669 (877-SASKNOW) North America
Re: MIT Spam conference
On Fri, Dec 17, 2004 at 04:39:49PM -0500, Chris Santerre wrote: > Is anyone else planning on attending? Already registered. :) -- Randomly Generated Tagline: How do you make Windows faster? Throw it harder.
Re: MIT Spam conference
Chris Santerre wrote: -Original Message- From: William Stearns [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, December 17, 2004 3:53 PM To: ML-spamassassin-talk; ml-surbl-discuss Cc: William Stearns Subject: MIT Spam conference Good day, all, I'll be attending the MIT spam conference this year, Jan 21st, 9-5. Details at http://www.spamconference.org/ . The registration is free, but they suggest an early registration before the conference fills up. I'd love a chance to meet other people working on spamassassin and surbl. Is anyone else planning on attending? Cheers, - Bill All registered. Unless we get some meltdown here, or my car feezes on the way like last year, I'll be there! However, being a ninja, you won't see me! :) J/K, my goal is to get my eyeball as close to the webcast camera. Just so when I come home I can DL the movie and say "There is my eyeball" Do we get to bring air horns? haha feeze? http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/feeze ;) Hey lemme know when your getting close to the camera, i wanna check it out too! -Jim
RE: MIT Spam conference
>-Original Message- >From: William Stearns [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Friday, December 17, 2004 3:53 PM >To: ML-spamassassin-talk; ml-surbl-discuss >Cc: William Stearns >Subject: MIT Spam conference > > >Good day, all, > I'll be attending the MIT spam conference this year, Jan 21st, >9-5. Details at http://www.spamconference.org/ . The registration is >free, but they suggest an early registration before the >conference fills >up. > I'd love a chance to meet other people working on >spamassassin and >surbl. Is anyone else planning on attending? > Cheers, > - Bill All registered. Unless we get some meltdown here, or my car feezes on the way like last year, I'll be there! However, being a ninja, you won't see me! :) J/K, my goal is to get my eyeball as close to the webcast camera. Just so when I come home I can DL the movie and say "There is my eyeball" Do we get to bring air horns? Chris Santerre System Admin and SARE/SURBL Ninja http://www.rulesemporium.com http://www.surbl.org 'It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.' Charles Darwin
MIT Spam conference
Good day, all, I'll be attending the MIT spam conference this year, Jan 21st, 9-5. Details at http://www.spamconference.org/ . The registration is free, but they suggest an early registration before the conference fills up. I'd love a chance to meet other people working on spamassassin and surbl. Is anyone else planning on attending? Cheers, - Bill --- "God grant me the senility to accept the things I cannot change, The frustration to try to change things I cannot affect, and the wisdom to tell the difference." (Courtesy of Mike Ricketts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>) -- William Stearns ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). Mason, Buildkernel, freedups, p0f, rsync-backup, ssh-keyinstall, dns-check, more at: http://www.stearns.org --
