Empty Spam

Every week I get a dozen or so email messages that look like spam, but really aren't.

I know I'm not alone in this phenomena - it was mentioned in last months Wired magazine.

"Empty Spam" is email that bares all the trademarks of being a spam message, but doesn't contain any obvious solicitation. It usually contains a somewhat random subject line, and almost always has a segment from some major literary work in the message body.

Both of these items are frequently found in typical junk email. The random content from publicly available texts is included in an effort to confuse Bayeseian based email filter software.

The message may or may not come from a suspect network or country.

So here's the question - who would send these messages, and why?

Some speculate that spammers are trying to feed spam killers large amounts of bogus data in an effort to blind them to real spam.

Conspiracy theorists might suggest it's terrorists trying to activate a cell from abroad. Maybe, "four score and blue peanuts" really means it's time to crack out the anthrax.

My own theory - it's just someone trying to make cookies who forgot to put in the chocolate chips. I think it's some newbie spammer who managed to hijack 1500 computers, set them up with spamming software, but forgot to include the bit about which site to buy the Viagra at.

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