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Spam Glossary

How to talk like a chicken-boner: a junk e-mail glossary.

Bandwidth hugger

Someone who fights spam. So called because he won't yield any system capacity (bandwidth) to junk e-mail.

Black hole

An e-mail account that automatically deletes everything that goes into it.

Chicken-boner

A spammer. While he sees himself as a cyber entrepreneur, he is really just a beer-drinking, chicken-bone-chewing lowlife.

Ham

Good e-mail. Not spam.

Hat color

Think John Wayne. Describes a company's position toward spam. White hats are the good guys; black hats are spammers. See chicken-boner.

Honeypot

An e-mail server intended to attract and trap spammers.

Mainsleaze

When a legitimate company goes over to the Dark Side and starts spamming.

Morph

The technique spammers use when they alter the header of an e-mail to avoid anti-spam software.

Murk

A fake disclaimer at the end of a spam e-mail assuring the reader that the message complies with a bill introduced by former Alaska Sen. (now Gov.) Frank Murkowski regulating spam. The bill never passed.

Pink

Anything spam related, as in "That subject header looks a little pink."

Quarantine

To isolate suspect e-mails.

Spambot

A robot used to collect e-mail addresses.

Spamhaus

A site devoted to sending out spam. A locus of evil in the modern world.

Spamhandling

Begging via spam.

Spim

Spam via instant message.

Teergrube

German for "tar pit." A server specifically designed to slow down spammers. See honeypot.

Trojan horse

A virus or other malicious program, often concealed in spam and designed to go undetected by security systems.

Zombie

A computer that has been hacked to send spam to other computers.

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