Logo Sp@m C@tcher 2.0
Copyright ©  Amer Neely

Your Last Line of Defense Against Spam

Sp@m C@tcher is a web-based utility that saves users time and bandwidth by not downloading spam.

Even with all the anti-spam software your ISP has running, you know that you still get spam in your mailbox. The problem is you don't know a message in your inbox is spam until you download it to your computer. You can't see any of your mail until you download it.

In a recent white paper from MessageLabs 'The compelling case for total email security', it was noted:

There is growing recognition that, while internal AV provision remains essential, it needs to be complemented by a system that intercepts unwanted emails at the Internet level, before they can get into the internal infrastructure, without the need for signatures.

Sp@m C@tcher is designed to work with POP or POP3 email accounts. It will not work on web-based mail accounts such as Hotmail, Yahoo!, AOL, etc.

You may have your email program configured with filters to move certain messages to your Trash box. Again, the problem is you have to download a message first before your email program can apply the filters.

To help you understand the flow of mail from the Internet to your home computer, here is a simple diagram.

The Internet
Incoming Mail
  • legitimate mail
  • spam
Your ISP Mail Server
Anti-spam software
Your POP Mailbox
  • legitimate mail
  • spam
Sp@m C@tcher
Your Home Mailbox
  • legitimate mail
  • NO SPAM

An email message consists of basically 2 sections: the header section, and the content section.

The header section contains things like where the message originated from; the servers it passed through on its way to you; the date and time the message was sent; the subject heading; and the size of the message.

The content section contains the real message, and any attachments. This is usually the largest of the two sections.

In order to do its magic, Sp@m C@tcher only displays four parts of the header section: who sent the message; the subject heading; the date it was sent; and how big the message is.

Until things improve, every online consumer must think like a security expert. "It's up to you to be sure all your software is up to date, with automatic scanning functions turned on", says Kathryn Sederquist of retailer Best Buy's Geek Squad technical support service in Riverhead, N.Y.

Sp@m C@tcher works by comparing the incoming 'From' field to your personal 'Buddy' list to determine whether a message is from a friendly source or not. If there is no match, the message is flagged with a check in a check box. Sp@m C@tcher does not delete messages automatically - only you have complete control over that.

It must be noted here that any or all of the header information in an email message can be falsified by spammers. So even though a message may appear to come from someone you know and trust, it may have actually been sent by a virus on your friend's computer.

In order to help you decide whether an email is legitimate or not, Sp@m C@tcher will let you 'view' the message in text form. Since you are using a web browser to access Sp@m C@tcher, viewing an email message requires that content to be downloaded to your computer so your browser can view it.

Only in this instance is Sp@m C@tcher downloading the complete message.

If you determine that the message is really not from your friend, you can click the checkbox beside it on the main screen. Any messages with checks in their checkboxes will be deleted when you click the 'Delete' button.

The SCBL aims to stop most spam while not blocking wanted email. This is a difficult task. It is not possible for any blocking tool to avoid blocking wanted mail entirely. Given the power of the SCBL, SpamCop encourages use of the SCBL in concert with an actively maintained whitelist of wanted email senders.

Future plans for Sp@m C@tcher include

Read why I developed Sp@m C@tcher.

Read about Sp@m C@tcher privacy and security.

Below is a screen shot of a typical session using my version of Sp@m C@tcher. I use it to check 3 email accounts.

This is a full-screen shot [640x480] of Sp@m C@tcher. As you can see, there are 2 sections that make up the display. The top section holds the message information for each account, and the bottom section allows access to other features, such as your 'Buddy' list, your POP account manager, and a link to send an email from within Sp@m C@tcher.
Screen 1 [49 KB]

From this you can see I have 2 messages in the account labeled 'Softouch', and that both of the checkboxes have been automatically checked. Note also the background colour of the checkbox. These messages have 'From' fields that do not match any entries in my friends list. Note also the 'View' button. This lets you read a message you aren't sure of. Obviously, this option has to download the whole message. The content of the message is displayed as text, not HTML.

The account named 'Spam Catcher' has no messages.

The 'Trudge' account also has 2 messages, but neither of the checkboxes are checked. This means those messages contain 'From' headers that match an entry in my 'Buddy' list. In this case the background colour of the checkboxes indicates 'friendly' messages.

Pressing the 'Delete' button will delete all the messages that are checked, in all accounts.

This is important to remember. Since the program is operating directly on the mailboxes at your Internet Service Provider, there is no 'Trashbox'. You CANNOT undelete messages that have been deleted here.

Once the program returns, without the offending spam messages, you can then run your regular email program and download any new messages.

Features

Benefits

Advantages

TRY IT FREE FOR ONE MONTH!

Amer Neely
Certified Internet Webmaster Designer
Web Mechanic

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