Comment Spam: what’s in a name?

OK, I realize that it looks a little self-obsessed to keep writing about comment spam relating to your own blog.

Actually, while I did write about it recently, on that occasion it was for SC Magazine's Cybercrime Corner. And that was largely because I'm still chuckling at the concept of a comment spammer complaining about the quantity of unmoderated comment spam a blog attracts. Not this blog, of course: while we attract depressingly high volumes of comment spam, we moderate, of course.

At least, I was until I checked a comment by someone claiming an email address in the name Trojanowski. As it turns out, that's a fairly common Polish habitational name, suggesting a family connection with a placename like Trojanów or Trojanowice. Still, I look forward to a spate of comments from accounts with appropriate Eastern European connections, such as Mr Virusovski or Ms Wormova.

And in case you were wondering (I'm sure you weren't), Harley is also a placename, this time in the UK. Though on a recent visit to the US I was slightly put out when two people told me their dogs were called Harley…

That's enough whimsy for this week. I have to go and trash some comment spam.

David Harley CITP FBCS CISSP
ESET Senior Research Fellow