Lycos makes screensaver that attacks spammers

[flashbacck]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
This is a HORRIBLE idea

Let's say a spammer signs up with a large hosting company, then spams out

This screensaver will go attack that server, causing trouble to all the sites on the server. I know yahoo offers hosting, but I hope Lycos does because then I'll get to laugh when they attack their own server

Yeah... It is kinda like punishing the masses for the crimes of one.

Oh well.

 

[Spencer278]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
This is a HORRIBLE idea

Let's say a spammer signs up with a large hosting company, then spams out

This screensaver will go attack that server, causing trouble to all the sites on the server. I know yahoo offers hosting, but I hope Lycos does because then I'll get to laugh when they attack their own server

And maybe the servers will stop hosting spam sites.

 

[Crazymofo]

Originally posted by: flashbacck

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
This is a HORRIBLE idea

Let's say a spammer signs up with a large hosting company, then spams out

This screensaver will go attack that server, causing trouble to all the sites on the server. I know yahoo offers hosting, but I hope Lycos does because then I'll get to laugh when they attack their own server

Yeah... It is kinda like punishing the masses for the crimes of one.

Oh well.

READ before you spew incorrect babble that just makes things worse... They are not attacking spammers they are attacking KNOWN companies that advertise using spam... One thing this screensaver is banking on is that the advertiser is legit and has their own server and BW to pay for and adding all the extra clicks will increase those costs.

 

[jfall]

So what if I had a beef with a particular website, I could purposely send out spam advertisements with the companies name attached and have it ddosed for no reason

 

[TitanDiddly]

I agree with this program. I don't think it will get enough energy behind it to really cause a lot of trouble for others on the same server, and if it does, it's not too hard to throttle it, presuming that the screensavers gets updates periodically, as I assume it would. Plenty of spammers across the world to spread the love over.

 

[GoingUp]

where do I download?

 

[Bassyhead]

nice

 

[episodic]

thumbs up!

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: Spencer278

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
This is a HORRIBLE idea

Let's say a spammer signs up with a large hosting company, then spams out

This screensaver will go attack that server, causing trouble to all the sites on the server. I know yahoo offers hosting, but I hope Lycos does because then I'll get to laugh when they attack their own server

And maybe the servers will stop hosting spam sites.

Agreed.

*Downloaded*

 

[Phoenix86]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: Phoenix86

Originally posted by: sciencewhiz

Originally posted by: Phoenix86
Probably illegal, this is a distributed DDOS attack...

You do realize that the first D in DDOS is distributed, right? This doesn't really qualify as a Distributed Distributed Denial of Service attack.

Yeah, about an hour after I posted it, sue me.

You also realize that the rest of the letters stand for "Denial of Service"..? This is not exactly a denial of service attack, since a denial of service would dictate that the attack would bring the site down or render it incapacitated. If you read the description of how the app works, it clearly indicates that a DDOS is not the intended result. The idea is that companies that host websites have to pay for them based on the amount of bandwidth that they require to operate. By increasing the bandwidth usage, they are increasing the operating costs of websites that advertise via spam.

I have not decided on whether I feel that the idea is actually a good one, but it is certainly interesting. I like the idea of distributing the hits, since this is what spammers have done by employing bot-nets. However, the spammers are doing it without the individual node's consent.

Oh, I'm sure hundreds/thousands of machines hitting a specific site with 3-4MB/day isn't going to affect their service one bit... :roll: Oh, sure it's going to cost them the bandwidth, but it will affect services, possible bringing down the sites through cost of traffic, or the traffic alone. Either way it's an attack on someone else's network. You are also attacking the host, who may not even know what's going on, because the attacks are not directed a the spammer, but the spammer's clients.

 

[imported_Phil]

What was that website that did roughly the same thing? It downloaded continuously from spam sites, shown by a series of images on the screen that updated constantly. Anyone got a link?

 

[scorp00]

Great Idea. I met some guys who owned a top 800 internet site and monthly bandwidth costs were $45-55k. Gotta hit em where it hurts.

 

[Phoenix86]

Originally posted by: Spencer278

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
This is a HORRIBLE idea

Let's say a spammer signs up with a large hosting company, then spams out

This screensaver will go attack that server, causing trouble to all the sites on the server. I know yahoo offers hosting, but I hope Lycos does because then I'll get to laugh when they attack their own server

And maybe the servers will stop hosting spam sites.

This does not target the spammer's hosts. It tagets the host of the spammer's clients. So how exactly is a host supposed to track their customer's methods of advertising? How is this fair to the host, or the customers of the hosts?

 

[Spencer278]

Originally posted by: Phoenix86

Originally posted by: Spencer278

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
This is a HORRIBLE idea

Let's say a spammer signs up with a large hosting company, then spams out

This screensaver will go attack that server, causing trouble to all the sites on the server. I know yahoo offers hosting, but I hope Lycos does because then I'll get to laugh when they attack their own server

And maybe the servers will stop hosting spam sites.

This does not target the spammer's hosts. It tagets the host of the spammer's clients. So how exactly is a host supposed to track their customer's methods of advertising? How is this fair to the host, or the customers of the hosts?

I don't care about the host that makes money off spamers

 

[ViperSSD]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: nitromullet
You also realize that the rest of the letters stand for "Denial of Service"..? This is not exactly a denial of service attack, since a denial of service would dictate that the attack would bring the site down or render it incapacitated. If you read the description of how the app works, it clearly indicates that a DDOS is not the intended result. The idea is that companies that host websites have to pay for them based on the amount of bandwidth that they require to operate. By increasing the bandwidth usage, they are increasing the operating costs of websites that advertise via spam.

I have not decided on whether I feel that the idea is actually a good one, but it is certainly interesting. I like the idea of distributing the hits, since this is what spammers have done by employing bot-nets. However, the spammers are doing it without the individual node's consent.

The thing is, the spamming website is not the only one suffering from this, the user's ISP and everyone in between does too.

the screensaver only uses 3-5 mb a day, so i doubt the user's isp is noticing anything

 

[Phoenix86]

Originally posted by: Spencer278

Originally posted by: Phoenix86

Originally posted by: Spencer278

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
This is a HORRIBLE idea

Let's say a spammer signs up with a large hosting company, then spams out

This screensaver will go attack that server, causing trouble to all the sites on the server. I know yahoo offers hosting, but I hope Lycos does because then I'll get to laugh when they attack their own server

And maybe the servers will stop hosting spam sites.

This does not target the spammer's hosts. It tagets the host of the spammer's clients. So how exactly is a host supposed to track their customer's methods of advertising? How is this fair to the host, or the customers of the hosts?

I don't care about the host that makes money off spamers

Try re-reading my post, or the article. This attack is not aimed at spammer's host. It's aimed at the spammer's clients's hosts. How is that host supposed to know their client is also the client of a spammer? Why punish that host and their other customers?

 

[Spencer278]

Originally posted by: Phoenix86

Originally posted by: Spencer278

Originally posted by: Phoenix86

Originally posted by: Spencer278

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
This is a HORRIBLE idea

Let's say a spammer signs up with a large hosting company, then spams out

This screensaver will go attack that server, causing trouble to all the sites on the server. I know yahoo offers hosting, but I hope Lycos does because then I'll get to laugh when they attack their own server

And maybe the servers will stop hosting spam sites.

This does not target the spammer's hosts. It tagets the host of the spammer's clients. So how exactly is a host supposed to track their customer's methods of advertising? How is this fair to the host, or the customers of the hosts?

I don't care about the host that makes money off spamers

Try re-reading my post, or the article. This attack is not aimed at spammer's host. It's aimed at the spammer's clients's hosts. How is that host supposed to know their client is also the client of a spammer? Why punish that host and their other customers?

Try reading my statment I don't care about host that make money off spamers. Wither or not the site using spam to advertise hires some one to do it or they do it themselves is completely irrevelent.

 

[yllus]

I sort of like it.

Regarding hosting companies suffering from spammers on their domain: Tough freakin' luck. The vast majority of spam out there is sent illegally, so why the hell shouldn't we expect hosts to tighten up their policies and security to the extent that spammers no longer have a home? Secure your holes or pay the price.

 

[ripn]

If anyone wants this program I have a mirror for it...

http://home.insightbb.com/~makelovenotspam/