Why "Do Not Email" Registries Can Be Dangerous

Last week in DM News, Ken Magill reported a story that shows the precise reason why email registries don't work: they can be a target.

I'll recap it for you if you don't have time to read the whole story. Here's what the company featured in the story, Blue Security, does:

• People who don't want email subscribe to a "do not intrude registry" from Blue Security.
• Blue Security assesses where spam is coming from from desktop software on a registrant's computer.
• Blue Security finds the opt-out/unsubscribe on the spammer's website and automatically bombards the servers with requests.
• The spammer's servers are bogged down potentially slowing them from spamming.

Here's what happened:

• The spammer got mad!
• Said spammer then compared all of the requests to be removed with their internal list and specifically pulled those addresses out.
• The spammer emailed the list with this excerpt:  "You are receiving this email because you are a member of Blue Security," the message reads, in part. "Due to the tactics used by Blue Security, you will end up receiving this message, or other nonsensical spams 20-40 times more than you would normally."
• The attack took Blue Security down for some time.

In this case the spammers were specifically trying to target and attack the registry even if they didn't do it by hacking into the databases. This story illustrates another point for exactly why registries can be dangerous.

Got a comment? Let's hear it!

Comments

[the ruminating redhead]

I just noticed that this post is 10 days old, but I hope you don't mind if I reply with both a comment and a question.
Comment: People and companies who fight dirty deserve the same treatment. Jamming someone's servers is wrong no matter what justification
these Blue Security guys thought up for themselves. If they cannot promise their customers that they will stop the spam in an ethical manner they don't belong in the business of security.

My question shows my inexperiece in the cyber tech world, I guess. How did the angry spammer justify his actions, and what did he mean when he said that Blue Security's tactics caused him to send out 20-40 more e-mails to his customers. I don't get the connection; can you explain it to me?
Thanks much
KC