Sam Spade (software)

Sam Spade was the name of a Windows software tool designed to assist in tracking down sources of e-mail spam. It was also the name of a free web service that provides access to similar online tools.[1][2][3][4] The Sam Spade utility was authored by Steve Atkins in 1997. It is named after the fictional character Sam Spade.[5]

Query tools

The main features (query tools) were:

  • Zone Transfer – ask a DNS server for all it knows about a domain
  • SMTP Relay Check – check whether a mail server allows third party relaying
  • Scan Addresses – scan a range of IP addresses looking for open ports
  • Crawl website – search a website, looking for email addresses, offsite links, etc.
  • Browse web – browse the web in a raw http format
  • Check cancels – search your news server for cancel messages
  • Fast and Slow Traceroute – find the route packets take between you and a remote system
  • S-Lang command – issue a scripting command; useful for debugging scripts
  • Decode URL – decipher an obfuscated URL
  • Parse email headers – read email headers and make a guess about the origin of the email

Website history

The last fully functional version of the website was available 2004-02-26.[6] Since then it experienced various outage problems due to "blackholing of SamSpade.org by several RIRs and general heavy usage."[7], and is no longer online. The URL currently redirects to https://tools.wordtothewise.com/ which contains a similar set of web tools under the brand name "wiseTools" and hosted by Atkins's email software business Word to The Wise[8]

References
  1. Moran, John (Jul 8, 2002). "Sick of spam, PC activists hunt for perpetrators". Chicago Tribune.
  2. "How to track down and eliminate spam". Gainesville Sun. Apr 20, 1998. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  3. Spring, Tom (Jan 19, 2004). "Spam Slayer: Why Spammers Love the CAN-SPAM Law". PC World. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  4. Quittner, Josh (June 1, 1998). "Can That Spam!". Time.
  5. Bray, Hiawatha (May 18, 2003). "LEAVE ME ALONE! WITH JUNK E-MAIL OUT OF CONTROL, INTERNET EXPERTS WANT TO REDESIGN THE WHOLE SYSTEM". Boston Globe.
  6. "SamSpade.org". www.samspade.org. Archived from the original on 26 February 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  7. "SamSpade.org". samspade.org. Archived from the original on 26 March 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  8. "Management Team". 30 December 2013.
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