[ExI] Avoiding Spam
Ben Zaiboc
ben at zaiboc.net
Wed Oct 16 11:17:49 UTC 2024
Can anyone tell me what's wrong with this plan (I'm assuming something
must be wrong with it, because it's such a simple idea, but I've never
heard of it being used)?
For every email account you have, you get a 'dark' twin account, the
address of which is never published (something like
"bensemaildark at bensdomain.etc", paired with "bensemail at bensdomain.etc".
In fact, you don't even need to know it yourself). This means that
nobody will ever send an email to that address - except for spammers.
Incoming mail to both accounts is hashed, the hashes compared between
the two accounts, and any matches indicate spam, which can be deleted
from the 'real' account on the server, before it even gets to your local
inbox.
The only downside I can see is the extra processing needed on the mail
server. If that seems likely to be a problem, it could be implemented
locally, and the overhead is yours, not the providers. Spam would get
downloaded, then immediately deleted, so at least you wouldn't see it.
There might be a problem with the hash function, if spam varies
according to the email address it goes to, but even if this is a thing,
it's not unsurmountabe.
Any thoughts?
Ben
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