Spam remains one of the most persistent threats on the internet, affecting email systems, websites, and applications. Understanding spam sources helps you better protect your infrastructure.
Types of Spam
Spam comes in various forms, each requiring different protection strategies:
Email Spam
Unsolicited bulk email is the most common form of spam. It ranges from annoying marketing to dangerous phishing attempts that try to steal credentials or distribute malware.
Comment & Forum Spam
Automated bots post promotional content or malicious links in website comments, forums, and contact forms. This degrades user experience and can harm your site's SEO.
Referrer Spam
Fake traffic designed to appear in your analytics, often promoting questionable websites. While less harmful, it pollutes your data and wastes resources.
The Impact of Spam
Spam has real costs for businesses and individuals:
- Wasted server resources and bandwidth
- Lost productivity from dealing with spam
- Security risks from phishing and malware
- Damaged reputation if your IPs get associated with spam
Protection Strategies
Effective spam protection uses multiple layers:
- IP Reputation Filtering - Block or flag traffic from known spam sources before processing
- Content Analysis - Scan message content for spam patterns and malicious links
- Rate Limiting - Limit the number of requests from any single IP to prevent abuse
Get the Spam IP Feed
Download our curated list of known spam sources, updated continuously.