“Who are those guys?" Reflections: 1969 and 2009, good guys and bad guys

The summer of 2009 brought us the 40th anniversary of some memorable moments: a little concert at a farm in Woodstock, NY, a little summer trip to a place called the moon, and the release of a little movie called Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Great stars, and a great movie, and we remember it for a great line in the script. As Paul Newman and Robert Redford marvel at the men who are able to track them down (even over bare rock), they wonder, "Who are those guys?" The trackers also can’t be influenced by bribes or discouraged by bad weather. Indeed, “Who are those guys?” The two of us ask that very same question when we intercept countless spam messages before they hit our customers’ in boxes: “Who are these guys?” Except when we ask it, we aren’t marveling at the intelligence and integrity of these spammers. Instead, we wonder how anybody can be so slimy and so stupid.

First off, slimy. What a bunch of garbage comes through the network, and what a waste of time and money for everyone involved. But we also wonder, how smart can these spammers be?

Does anyone really pay attention to messages from: - the Nigerian prince and his offer to share his wealth?- the financier who offers free money? (just ask for it! your credit history crumby? no problem!)- some pseudo pharmacy offering pills to enhance body parts you didn’t even know you had?

And besides the idiotic purveyors of spam, we also wonder: who are the people who follow through on the offers from these criminals? I guess it must be somebody, otherwise the spam would not continue. Sure, some spam can be cleverly crafted and can fool unsuspecting recipients, but everyone needs to remember: if you don’t know the sender of a message, and you're not sure if you should reply or click on a link, then . . . don't.
Don’t click, don’t reply – just delete. And if you have any doubt, or think that your system may have been compromised, contact us. Because when it comes to safeguarding your system, WE are those guys.