Spam, one of the most annoying features of the Web age, is celebrating a milestone.

In the spring of 1978, someone sent a note advertising a new computer system to the addresses of about 600 citizens on Arpanet, the government-designed precursor to the Web.

The unsolicited letter sparked an instant outcry. “This was a clear and flagrant abuse of the directory!” one user on the electronic list wrote.

that was the first of billions of spam e-mails sent by the next 30 years at a rate that has grown astronomically.

It’s estimated that 80 percent or more of all e-mail traffic is spam, produced by famed Buffalo Spammer Howard Carmack and others at very little cost to the sender.

“The reason they happen is it’s very cheap to send mass e-mails,” said Elias G. Eldayrie, chief knowledge officer for the University at Buffalo. “The cost is not on the sending end. The cost is on the receiving end. They pass

Companies here and around the world spend billions of dollars on network filters and safety measure systems to try to keep out spam while additionally letting valid e-mails through.

Despite these defensive barricades, millions of spam e-mails still flow into our inboxes.

The subject lines tout no-hassle college diplomas, cheap designer clothing, erectile dysfunction treatments and, of course, access to the fortunes of deceased Nigerian millionaires.

More sinister spam e-mails carry viruses that can hijack a computer server or “phish” for financial history knowledge from gullible recipients.

“There are some things that sneak through, and it forces IT [information technology] to react to the problem,” said Mark Young, director of info technology for the Phillips Lytle law firm.

Spam has come a faraway way since May 1978, when computer salesman Gary Thuerk was trying to find a way to reach potential customers on the West Coast, according…

Original post by Top Tech News