KB185216 - XGEN: Explanation of Common Network Mail Abuse Phrases

Article ID: 185216

Article Last Modified on 10/28/2006

Microsoft Exchange Server 4.0 Standard Edition
Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 Standard Edition
Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q185216

SUMMARY

This article outlines and defines the most common phrases used to describe electronic mail abuse. Microsoft Exchange administrators that support Internet mail or Network News may be interested in knowing these phrases.

The information in this article applies to the Internet Mail Connector, Internet Mail Service, and the Internet News Service for the Exchange Server.

MORE INFORMATION

Electronic mail (from the Internet) abuse can cause system slow-downs, high usage of network bandwidth, undesirable usage of hard disk storage, and general annoyance for users by clogging their client inboxes.

The following terms and abbreviations are often used to describe different kinds of network abuse:

spam (slang): A generic term describing various forms of electronic mail abuse. A good general definition is as follows: "Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it."

Source: http://spam.abuse.net/whatisspam.html
EMP (Excessive Multi-Posting): The same article (or essentially the same article) posted an unacceptably high number of times to one or more newsgroups. This is seen by NNTP clients and received by the Internet News Service.
CROSS-POSTING: A single message instance that is posted to multiple news groups. This is seen by NNTP clients and is received by the Internet News Service. CROSS-POSTING takes up only one message in News Server, but appears in more than one place. Cross-posting to relevant newsgroups is usually considered appropriate. Cross-posting a message that is not relevant to several newsgroups can be considered inappropriate.
UBE (Unsolicited Bulk E-mail): E-mail with substantially identical content sent to many recipients who did not ask to receive it. This type of mail can be seen in Exchange or POP3 clients, and is delivered through the Internet Mail Service.
UCE (Unsolicited Commercial E-mail): E-mail containing commercial information that has been sent to a recipient who did not ask to receive it. Most UBE is UCE.
MMF (Make Money Fast): Usually chain letters or other mail that claims to be able to make the recipient a lot of money. May be fraudulent or scam.
MLM (Multi-Level Marketing): A type of MMF scheme that includes sending money in the form of an "initial investment" and encourages recruitment of others. May be fraudulent or scam.
MAILBOMB: Delivering large amounts of e-mail with the sole purpose of shutting down the recipients server or client, or to deny others legitimate access to the server.

More information can be found at the following sites on the World Wide Web:

The Net Abuse FAQ at http://www.cybernothing.org/faqs/net-abuse-faq.html
The Email Abuse FAQ at http://members.aol.com/emailfaq/emailfaq.html

And on USENET:

news.admin.net-abuse.usenet
news.admin.net-abuse.misc
news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins
news.admin.misc
news.groups.questions
news.answers

Note: The information in this article, including the World Wide Web pages listed and USENET pointers are not provided or supported by Microsoft.

Keywords: kbinfo KB185216