What can you, the individual or small business Internet user, do? Plenty! The first and most obvious step is to choose carefully your hardware and OS. Since there are tons of articles already addressing that, and new ones every day, I won't say much more than this: when you can, avoid Windows as severware. It is on the workstation and desktop where you are more likely to have required applications that only run on Windows. Too often each piece of the software matrix has a separate price tag. If there is an Open Source application or combination that does the same job, spam fighting tools for example are built in at no extra cost. When properly configured, they are more resistant to attacks. My own local ISP has joined many others in making the switch to Open Source, with Linux servers now replacing most of their Windows servers simply for reasons of cost and service.
How did we get in this mess? How have we come to the place where a relatively small group of rogue Internet users are on the verge of bringing the whole thing to a grinding halt because of their short-sighted greed?
I love SPAM. No, really, I do. I buy it in the six pack from a wholesale club, and in a couple of days can eat a whole can of it by myself. You know, that pink stuff made by Hormel -- yummy! The other kind of spam nobody wants. Okay, 95% of Internet users don't want it, according to surveys. That kind of spam is also referred to as Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) or Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE).