While I consider myself somewhat competent on the geek scale, this book was quite an eye opener as to how much I didn't realize went on from a technical standpoint. I'm reminded of that saying (I'm sure you heard it as a kid as well) that goes something like, "if you'd just focus that energy toward something constructive..." There is enough information in the book to get you started in the spam business, but I wouldn't worry about a new rash of spam as a result of this book. I doubt any of this couldn't be discovered googling around the internet.

While I hate spam as much as the next guy, I was surprised to find myself agreeing with some of the "pro-spam" points brought up in this book. (Don't worry, I quickly gave myself a few lashings...) There is also quite a bit of discussion about the CAN-SPAM act that effectively makes it pointless - especially for a "legit" spammer. (Yep, spam can be legit.)

Spam Cartel was very educational and gave me plenty of ideas as to how to keep my own spam filters up to speed. I also find myself examining the spam that does get through and understanding why. Knowledge is power - and this book is full of information. However, it does seem to get a little repetitive at time and the title is a bit of a misnomer - I would have gone with "Confessions of a Spammer" or something cliché like that. :)

In order to fight an enemy, you have to understand him. And in order to fight spam, you need to understand the mindset of the spammer. To do that, pick up a copy of Inside the SPAM Cartel X (Syngress).

Chapter List: Inside the Head of a Spammer; How Spam Works; Sending Spam; Your E-mail: Digital Gold; Creating the Message and Getting It Read; Spam Filters: Detection and Evasion; Spam Filters: Advanced Detection and Evasion; Phishing and Scam Spam; Spam and the Law; Analyzing Spam; The Real Cost of Spam; Statistics of Spam; The Future of Spam; FAQs of Spam; Closing Comments; Combating Spam with Exchange Server and Outlook; Index

This book is written from the first-person perspective of a spammer, and goes into great detail about the mentality and technology of spamming. Whether Spammer-X is a real person or not is irrelevant. The information is excellent and will definitely aid anyone who is responsible for combatting spam in an organization. He covers everything from how spammers make their money, how they hide their tracks, what technology they use to send out the mailings, and what techniques are used to prevent the money from being tracked. If you're trying to figure out where a spam email originates from, you'll learn how to read the headers to deduce what's real and what's not. It's definitely interesting to read about the whole spam process from a "spammer friendly" perspective. The argument could be made that this is a handbook on how to become a spammer, but it's also important to know what the "enemy" is up against. I think it has much more value in that way.

My only complaint with the book is that the editing process of the writing must have broken down somewhere here. There are a number of typos and grammatical errors in the book. If the book wasn't so interesting and useful, I'd probably mark it down a notch for that. But the value of the material can't be overlooked, so I'll award it the top rating on Amazon... 5 stars.