Editor's Note: Have I Got A Challenge For You

What a great idea. Why didn't I think of this myself? It's a great solution to a nagging problem. It could allow people with great skills to do what they like to do. And it could help put a stop to some overzealous E-mailers. Here's what I'm talking about. I got this letter from reader John Checco last week who was responding to our cover stories on hackers and spammers ("The Mind Of A Hacker" and "Spam Nation"):

"The time is ripe for these two worlds to collide .... Wouldn't it be a great challenge for white-hats to take on--technically speaking--the spamming community? Spamming is indeed a problem warranting the power of 'unconventional thinkers' that Thieme refers to. I envision, someday, the same technology that pushes a worm across the network also will be used to backtrack spam to [its] true source."

Bravo. Identify them, fine them, and stop them. It would mean, of course, that I would miss some compelling opportunities--cash loans, enough generic drugs to supply a hospital, and more. But that's a sacrifice I'll gladly make. I'm sure most businesses would agree. According to an InformationWeek Research survey, many businesses had to earmark a larger slice of their precious IT budgets for spam management this year. A quarter of the enterprise sites we surveyed say they've spent 20% more on spam-filtering products this year. And a third of the respondents are racking up increases between 5% and 19%.

We've got lots of content to share at informationweek.com/spam and a venue to sound off about spam on our Listening Post.

Stephanie Stahl
Editor
[email protected]