Friends can help friends block spam -- or at least their computers can.
So says a University of Florida computer engineer who has pioneered a new approach to zapping the junk e-mail that slows productivity and poses an increasing security threat to computer users worldwide.
With colleagues at the University of California-Los Angeles, Oscar Boykin, a UF assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, has simulated a system that taps a user’s "social network" of friends and colleagues to root out spam. Current antispam software blocks incoming spam by matching keywords or images with previously identified spam. A computer outfitted with the proposed system would first check incoming messages with its own anti-spam software -- then, if no match were found, automatically check it against the software on the "trusted" computers among a user's circle of regular contacts.