Spamblock

1 definition found

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  spamblock /spam'blok/ n. [poss. by analogy to sunblock] Text inserted
     in an email address to render it invalid and thus useless to spammers.
     For example, the address `jrandom@hacker.org' might be transformed to
     `jrandom@NOSPAM.hacker.org'. Adding spamblock to an address is often
     referred to as `munging' it (see {munge})-. This evasion tactic depends
     on the fact that most spammers collect names with some sort of {address


     harvester} on volumes too high to de-mung by hand, but individual humans
     reading an email message can readily spot and remove a spamblock in the
     From address.
  
     Note: This is not actually a very effective tactic, and may already be
     passing out of use in early 1999 after about two years of life. In both
     mail and news, it's essentially impossible to keep a smart address
     harvester from mining out the addresses in the message header and trace
     lines. Therefore the only people who can be protected are third parties
     mentioned by email address in the message - not a common enough case to
     interest spammers.