The only thing RootsWeb COULD do but it would be a major undertaking would be to encrypt ALL addresses on the list index Web site. The old John Fuller site would have to be encrypted as well and I'm not sure who has charge of that now as it always was a volunteer activity. I believe the lack of encryption on these sites is the main reason admins and list addresses regularly get harvested for spam. The list archives is all encrypted and that protects list subscribers and posters. Joan In a message dated 11/18/2011 8:32:26 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, charani.b@gmail.com writes: Although I have my doubts about Rootsweb's ability to keep addresses secure, I'm assured they are. At least Rootsweb is taking the matter seriously enough to attempt to keep list members safe.

On 11/18/2011 8:14 AM, JYoung6180@aol.com wrote: > The only thing RootsWeb COULD do but it would be a major undertaking would > be to encrypt ALL addresses on the list index Web site. The old John Fuller > site would have to be encrypted as well and I'm not sure who has charge of > that now as it always was a volunteer activity. I believe the lack of > encryption on these sites is the main reason admins and list addresses > regularly get harvested for spam. The list archives is all encrypted and that > protects list subscribers and posters. > > Joan Joan: Captcha is not actually as bad as scumjunkspam, but it is fairly competitive in the category "cure worse than disease", in my opinion. All the technology in the world does not change two things, among others: RootsWeb's addresses are predictable and stable, and can be recreated manually; and, RootsWeb addresses (including the -admin address) are found in many subscribers' address books. Once an address is "loose in the wild" it gets passed around by the scumbags. Of my dozen and a half lists and the associated boards, the ones that have been identified by the lowlife vandals keep getting hit with gateway posts and junk being sent to -admin and -request. If I had a choice of where RootsWeb's efforts should be centered, it would be to do a better job of tossing the most egregiously obvious SPAM from my pending requests list. (I handle the gateways and pending requests manually, and will as long as I can keep up.) It is the nature of the admin's responsibilities that messages sent to -admin need to be seen. Any filters have to be *very* unlikely to incorrectly discard messages. This is especially important when working with a genuine subscriber who is sending copies of messages they have received which either do come from the list, or seem to. Darrell

JYoung6180@aol.com wrote: > The only thing RootsWeb COULD do but it would be a major undertaking would > be to encrypt ALL addresses on the list index Web site. The old John Fuller > site would have to be encrypted as well and I'm not sure who has charge of > that now as it always was a volunteer activity. I believe the lack of > encryption on these sites is the main reason admins and list addresses > regularly get harvested for spam. The list archives is all encrypted and that > protects list subscribers and posters. It would probably be too big an undertaking both time and cost wise, esp as Rootsweb is a free service. While the weakest link remains between the chair and the keyboard, it will be nigh on impossible to prevent harvesting one way or another, whether it be through an harvester bot or inviting in malware by clicking on a malicious link or any other means. All anyone can do is be aware of the potential problems of being on the net and learn how to deal with them, what to avoid and, above all, be sensible. That said, you can't protect people from their own ignorance and stupidity. -- Charani (UK) OPC for Walton, Greinton and Clutton, SOM Asst OPC for Ashcott and Shapwick, SOM http://wsom-opc.org.uk http://www.savethegurkhas.co.uk/