Ebook: Blocking Spam and Spyware For Dummies

This was a curiosity read as somebody suggested I write a dummies book on spam since she thought one didn't exist.

This book is geared for people that have little or no knowledge of the setting up anti-spam/spyware. If you find yourself asking "I need to setup and anti-spam solution and I don't know where to begin" then this book could serve as an ok place to start.

This book is not for people looking for extra ideas to improve their current knowledge.

I liked the idea that spam and spyware were linked together as both worlds are finding a symbiotic relationship.

The first few chapters are good for the ignorant as they attempt to explain spam and spyware. There is also a chapter on the costs of spam and return on investment for setting up measures to stop it.

The next chapters deal with setting up a project to evaluate and install defense measures. I skimmed them as I already have solutions in place. They might be boring for some; especially if their setup is small or it's a one man IT shop.

The book seems to favor the windows world as Sendmail is only mentioned. There is no reference to spamassassin or postfix.

Another aspect I liked is the fact there are discussions about security in the realm of patching, etc. Many people don't understand that security can affect spam production.

Troubleshooting is rather lite. Which can be expected as such effort would be another book especially when considering what to do with malware infected machines.

Some of the information is getting dated as it mentions postini as it's own company and same failed standards attempts.

It has some useful Net links mentioned for getting more information. I think there could have been more but that's the authors prerogative.

There are 2 appendixes dealing with a project plan and project requirements for spam and spyware filtering people might find useful.

Some areas that are missing are Reputation filtering ala IronPort. There was no mention of spyware sites such as gain and the fact spyware companies are getting purchased by search engine companies and even software companies with antispyware products. It goes to show you how much can change in 3 years(book was published in 2005).

Overall, it's a decent baby steps book for the ill informed.