Possible Abuse of Coral List e-mail list by "Starnet"

[Jim Hendee]

Michael,

	In regards to your concern that spammers may have used the list of
subscribers to coral-list, I have purposely configured coral-list so that
nobody (except me) has the complete list of subscribers to coral-list and
the digests; and NOAA's top security specialists have taken great pains to
ensure safety of the coral workstation against crackers.  It would be
possible, however, for spammers to read the archives and hand-collect and
type in each entry for their list; however, that would be extremely
time-intensive, there are relatively few regular contributors (compared to
the list of ~ 1700 subscribers) and there are doubtless easier methods for
compiling a big list for spamming (e.g., through programming to scan huge
numbers of Web pages, etc.)  However, if anyone else has similar concerns
and thinks coral-list may be the source, please let me know.

	Cheers,
	Jim Hendee
	coral-list admin

On Sat, 30 Jun 2001 SMHoke at aol.com wrote:

> 
> Dear Mr. Hendee:
> 
>        I have received more SPAM today than ever in my life!  It all
> appears to be coming through an Egyptian company called "Starnet".  
> You can find them on the web at: http://starnet.com.eg/
> 
>        I have no recollection of ever signing up to become a member of
> that list.  I am concerned that they may have somehow gotten my e-mail
> address from the Coral List - List Server.  Have you heard any similar
> complaints or concerns from other members regarding Starnet?  (You may
> post this message to the general list if you wish).
> 
>        Thanks for your help.
> 
> Regards,
> S. Michael Hoke
> Graduate Student: Marine Biology
> NSU Oceanographic Ctr.
> National Coral Reef Institute
> 

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