Home
>
Spam Blocking
>
Invasion of the Email Snatchers

Invasion of the Email Snatchers

They're sneaky. And stealthy. They're quiet and mostly unobtrusive, but once you've been visited by them, you'll know it. Because you'll be inundated with a seemingly never-ending stream of spam-mails.

They're email harvesting robots, and chances are you've been visited by one.

What these insidious creatures do is crawl your site, much like the search engine spiders do, and collect any and all email addresses they find there. Many of them crawl your entire site, following every link, gathering email addresses from your guestbook, your message boards, databases, and everywhere else they can get to.

What happens next is so sinister, so unthinkable; I can barely say it. They put your email addresses on CDRom and sell them- as opt-in lists. You've seen them, "20,000 targeted email addresses for only $29.95!", or my personal favorite, "Send 10 Bazillion emails- WITHOUT SPAMMING!!". What you didn't know was that it was YOUR email address they were selling.

To find out if your site has been visited by an email harvester, you only need to look at your logs. If your web host provides you with your stats, you can look in the Browser report for any of the following:

EmailSiphon
Crescent Internet Tool Pack v1.0
Cherry Picker
Email Collector
Libwww-perl 1.0

If you don't have a stats program, you can examine your logs for visits from these agents. The easiest way to do this is to download them and open them in a program with a search function (like Wordpad). Then you can search for the names listed above.

So, what can you do to protect your site from these evil robots? Unfortunately, there's no single magic solution. There are, however steps you can take to discourage them.

The first thing you can do is create a Robots Exclusion file. This is simply a text file named robots.txt that you place in your root directory. What this file does is tells robots where they can and cannot go (as well as which robots can and cannot visit your site). The drawback of using this file to combat email harvesting robots is that as a rule, the robots.txt file is based on a sort of robot honor system. That is to say that you are assuming that any robot that visits will ask for and comply with the directives that you put there. Unfortunately, harvesting robots are typically ill-mannered robots that ignore this file. For more information on Robot Exclusion, visit the robots exclusion standard

A really fun solution is to use a cgi-script that punishes bad robots. What these do is to direct the robot to a page full of fake email addresses- lots and lots of them. So, what the spammer gets is a whole lot of bounced email messages, which will discourage them from visiting you again. The downside of this method is that they do also collect the valid email addresses. Also, most scripts of this type have a little disclaimer attached to them stating that they won't be held responsible for any legal issues that arise from the use of their script- and that has to make you wonder.

There are other scripts that hide your email address from the robots, but not your site visitors. This is a great solution for smaller sites that don't have more than one or two addresses listed. You can find both types of scripts at the robots exclusion standard

Another handy script is one that will check to see if a robot is friendly, and if not it will put it to sleep for say, 10,000 minutes. This will cause the robot to terminate the request and move on to another victim. $number = $ENV{REMOTE_ADDR};
($a,$b,$c,$d)=split(/./,$number);
$ipadr=pack("C4",$a,$b,$c,$d);
($name,$aliases,$addrtype,$length,
@addrs)=(gethostbyaddr("$ipadr", 2));

if ($name =~ /foo.com/i) {
$ENV{HTTP_USER_AGENT} =~ /emailsiphon/i;
$access_denied++;
sleep(10000);
}

The last option is, in my humble opinion, the best option. If you have the ability to modify your .htaccess file, you can specify certain host agents that are not allowed to visit your site using the mod_rewrite file. This effectively blocks the offending robots from ever touching your site. You should definitely check with your hosting provider to see whether or not you can make such a modification. Most hosts will be more than happy to make the modification for you.

For those of you willing and able to make the changes yourself, just add the following to your.htaccess file:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailSiphon [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailWolf [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ExtractorPro [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mozilla.*NEWT [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Crescent [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^CherryPicker [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^[Ww]eb[Bb]andit [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^WebEMailExtrac.* [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^NICErsPRO [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Telesoft [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zeus.*Webster [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Microsoft.URL [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mozilla/3.Mozilla/2.01 [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^EmailCollector
RewriteRule ^.*$ /badspammer.html [L]

While these are all effective measures to fight the Email Snatchers, there are new robots evolving every day. It's important to stay informed with the latest tools that the spammers are using. Some excellent sources of information can be found at:

Search Engine World
robots exclusion standard

Apache Today
robots exclusion standard

SpiderHunter.com
robots exclusion standard

--------------------------------

? Copyright 2001 Sharon Davis. When she is not waging war on spammers, she is the owner of robots exclusion standard, Work At Home Articles.net and the Editor of the site's monthly ezine, America's Home. In her spare time she reminisces about what it was like to have spare time. To subscribe to her free ezine, Click Here

one time home cleaning Highland Park ..

In The News:

Privacy risks are hiding in plain sight, as your personal data is likely being collected, tracked, and sold without your knowledge.

VenHub, a fully autonomous, AI-powered smart store just opened at the LAX/Metro Transit Center in Los Angeles.

A woman's Facebook account takeover reveals dangerous social engineering tactics and provides lessons on recovery, avoiding scams and enacting stronger security measures.

Shanghai engineers are using 432 walking robots to relocate a complex, preserving Shikumen architecture while creating space for a modern underground hub and cultural center.

Major healthcare data analytics firm Episource had a cybersecurity incident exposing 5 million patients' medical records and personal information in recent breach.

A new sophisticated PayPal scam sends legitimate-looking emails from official PayPal addresses, using phone numbers instead of links to convince victims to download remote access tools.

Fox News' AI Newsletter brings you the latest on this rapidly evolving technology.

The innovative Kara Pod device extracts moisture from air to create mineral-rich water and brew coffee, featuring UV sterilization and compatibility with Nespresso pods.

Gov. Hochul unveiled New York's nuclear power plant project to power a million homes, which faces permit challenges while promising jobs and a cleaner energy future.

SAFE introduces Aerie, an underground luxury bunker combining high-end living with advanced security, wellness amenities and interactive walls simulating panoramic views.

A Facebook scammer posing as Elon Musk tricked a victim with promises of a Tesla and $250,000, requesting gift cards that become untraceable once the codes are shared.

Experience hands-free golfing with the Robera Neo smart caddie that uses AI to follow you, navigate obstacles and carry your clubs with GPS course mapping.

Cybersecurity alert: 16 billion passwords exposed in massive credential database affecting major platforms. Protect your accounts with password managers

The innovative BeBot robot uses electric power to remove pollution from shorelines, covering 20-30 times more area than manual collection while preserving wildlife.

A new ClickFix campaign targets macOS users with fake Spectrum support sites, tricking victims with CAPTCHA failures to paste commands that install information-stealing malware.

AI-powered autonomous trucks from Plus Automation are being tested across the U.S., Europe and Asia to solve logistics challenges while facing regulatory hurdles and labor concerns.

Your health information might feel private and secure with your doctor, but the reality is far more complicated. Data brokers collect a wide range of sensitive health data, from diagnoses and prescription details to personal identifiers, and sell this data to marketers, insurers, and other third parties.

Kepler Robotics has officially introduced its Forerunner K2 "Bumblebee" humanoid robot at the SAIC-GM automotive plant in Shanghai, marking a significant moment in the real-world deployment of advanced robotics.

Scammers never seem to be running out of new ways to try and get their hands on your money – and lately, they've been getting sophisticated.

Thirty people were injured and killed, though the exact number remains currently unknown, when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Damascus church.

Unexpected password reset alerts signal potential hacking attempts or phishing scams. Learn how to respond and establish stronger security measures for your accounts.

A historic electric airplane flight landed at JFK with passengers, marking a milestone as Beta Technologies demonstrates the practicality and efficiency of electric air travel.

The Chaos ransomware group breached Optima Tax Relief in a double-extortion attack, stealing sensitive customer case files and corporate documents with personal information.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

The first human brain-computer interface by Paradromics was completed in 20 minutes, featuring microelectrodes to help paralyzed individuals control computers with thoughts.

Invasion of the Email Snatchers

Spam Blocking