What does spam mean: definition and meaning

What does spam mean: definition and meaning of a practice that is so widespread on the web and at the same time quite annoying for those who receive it.

You published a post on your Facebook page and among the comments you noticed a rather ambiguous advertising message, which has little to do with your sector. Or perhaps you received a promotional email containing a link that directs you to the website of a little-known company, but without having previously signed up to the newsletter.

At best we are talking about invasive activities, with the dissemination of unsolicited press releases aimed at marketing a product. However, this system also hides illegal practices, which can jeopardize the your digital safety. So let's see what spam means and what the peculiarities of this phenomenon are.

What does spam mean

Con la definizione di spam ci riferiamo a quei messaggi indesiderati inviati in massa da persone che tentano di fare pubblicità o di vendere qualcosa, ma anche con l’ obiettivo di truffare il malcapitato tramite attività di phishing. Molto spesso queste communications (received without our consent) in addition to offering invasive advertising, they contain links that direct you to potentially harmful websites with which to rob you of your personal or even banking credentials. We are therefore talking about real rubbish advertising which manifests itself through the following systems:

• E-mail
• Posts and response comments on social media
• User comments on blogs or forums

Furthermore, many users do not know what lies behind their creation. In these situations, cyber criminals use a variety of methods, including sending emails with unsolicited commercial content or attempting to deceive users to obtain information private. Sometimes they are carried out by bots, i.e. programs designed to carry out repetitive tasks on the Internet, such as the massive sending of intrusive and borderline obsessive content.

What are the dangers for those who receive these messages?

Receiving spam communications is a really unpleasant thing and can make you very nervous, but its effects can be much worse. Among the negative consequences we can mention:

• Damage to your reputation and that of your social profile or website;
• The ability to divert the attention of the user who is reading your content;
• The concrete possibility of stealing your credentials, be they passwords, bank codes or classic personal information such as e-mail address, tax code, telephone number and so on, etc.

If your account gets flooded with spam it is certainly the judgment and the judgment that get the worst of it opinion that the public will have towards you. But another aspect to consider is the action of cyber criminals, who for their shady purposes purchase lists of email addresses from third parties with the intention of stealing personal information from users via malware.

How to avoid falling victim to spam?

There are several ways to avoid suffering the effects of spam. First, it's important to be aware of what it is and that it can arrive via email, social media or other online channels. It can also sometimes be difficult to distinguish from normal content, but there are some signs you should look out for. For example, spam tends to have a urgent tone or it's too good to be true. Furthermore, it might include links to suspicious websites or offer gifts or prizes. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

In addition to this, you can still make use of specific software plugins come Akismet (già presente su WordPress). Tuttavia l’attenzione e la prevenzione rappresentano l’arma principale che tu possa avere a disposizione.

What spam means: conclusion

We have seen what does spam mean and how this widespread and very annoying phenomenon manifests itself, with even serious repercussions that can affect your digital security. This is why 360-degree IT support from an agency like ours can actually help you have a safe, high-performance platform that allows you to welcome as many visitors as possible.

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