Spam has advanced from being a recurring annoyance to a significant geopolitical concern, according to Marcus Rogers, professor and head of the Department of Computer and Information Technology and director of the Cyber Forensics Lab.
Citing allegations of interference in the 2016 election and potential interference in France's upcoming election, Rogers said that spammers and others who distribute "fake news" via social media currently have greater impact than when their efforts were limited to peddling fake drugs and scams targeted at one person at a time. Email spam is reemerging as its own concern, Rogers said.
Cooperation within the technology industry is key to finding potential solutions to the problem, but it's an ongoing battle. "I would say we're about a year, year and a half behind," Rogers said. "And that's being optimistic."
Rogers was quoted in an NBC News article about the closing of tens of thousands of inauthentic Facebook accounts.
Additional information:
Crackdowns on Social Media Accounts Backfire by Driving up Demand (NBC News)