Different types of SPAM. Do we really need to panic?

Here’s a posting I’ve been trying for a while to write. However, I couldn’t find the time to put my resources in the right place.
As you have guessed from the title it is about the different types of SPAM. Now, how do we define SPAM? Well that’s a long story. The very basics of SPAM are defined by Wikipedia like this: “Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems (including most broadcast media, digital delivery systems) to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately.” This page describes the basics of SPAM in a very explicit way. I could say that it should be a part of “Spam for dummies”.

It explains you over there the different types of SPAM, how they are perceived and what they mean. This posting from herealso describes the main types of SPAM.

Normally, if we were to take the definitions and the statistics, roughly 85% of the messages (email + social media + SMS + flyers + even phone calls + SEO) should be considered SPAM. However, I would like to make an observation. Why should we be scared of SPAM? There 2 main reasons:
1. Lack of inbox space (generically speaking) and lack of time to read all the messages we receive everyday.
2. Possible malware and security threats: phishing, viruses, Trojans etc

The former category one is very subjective. To be honest, if I like a certain FaceBook or Linkedin invitation, even though it is unsolicited, i gladly accept it. This normally would be considered spam, but then again I don’t consider it spam. Same applies for email messages. Others prefer to stick to the definition and include everything that is unsolicited in their SPAM list. And they heave the definition to stick to and the argument that “we have the right to our privacy”. So you won’t be able to argue that, right? The latter category is less subjective. And we all know the cases of Trojans and other threats that incur from some social media invitations or emails. For this type of SPAM you really need to use an advanced SPAM filter. This could cost you money and important resources. If for the former one you can decide on whether you consider it as SPAM or not, for the latter you should be aware and install and advanced server side anti-spam filter.