Spam has moved from the kitchen to the computer lab.

Junk e-mail, named after the Hormel canned meat SPAM, is overwhelming e-mail accounts, leaving students to question when, if ever, it will stop.

Gerry Santoro, assistant professor of information sciences and technology, said junk e-mail is called spam in reference to a Monty Python routine. In the skit a group of Vikings sang the word SPAM repeatedly to drown out another conversation. Junk e-mail adopted the name once it began drowning out inboxes around the world.

According to the SPAM Web site (www.spam.com), the company says, "we do not object to use of this slang term to describe unsolicited commercial e-mail, although we do object to the use of our product image in association with that term."

Santoro defined spam as any unwanted unsolicited e-mail. Typically the e-mails are forms of mass advertising, he said.

Spam is a growing problem that has no solution.

Beyond annoying e-mail users, spam offers another way for viruses to attack computers.

Santoro suggests that people do not click on hyperlinks appearing in spam e-mail. The hyperlinks could activate a virus, he said.

Spam also creates problems for people who use e-mail services with account size limits.

"I have a Hotmail account and spam fills up my inbox all the time," said Ben Longenecker (senior-advertising and public relations).

The Federal Trade Commission recently joined the battle against spam.

According to a FTC news release, the organization met Tuesday to discuss a three-step attack on illegal junk e-mail. The FTC is concerned with illegal chain letter e-mails that promise to send people money, the release said.

"Almost everyone with an e-mail account gets spam," Timothy J. Muris, chairman of the FTC, said in the release.

"It's intrusive, unwelcome and annoying. Deceptive junk e-mail is also illegal."

The FTC sent warning letters to illegal spam offenders and is working with Internet service provider associations to educate people about illegal e-mail chain letters, the release said.

Many people who are bothered by spam wonder how they are sent the junk e-mail.

Spammers can find their victims listed on Internet bulletin boards and use listservs to reach vast amounts of people, Santoro said. E-mail users have a few ways to deal with spam.

Many e-mail programs and services have filters to catch some junk e-mail. Filters can be set to block e-mails with certain words or phrases in the body or subject of an e-mail. However, Santoro said this is not really an effective method of blocking spam.

Santoro also said people can use multiple e-mail addresses to reduce the amount of spam they receive. E-mail users can utilize one primary account to contact friends and family.

The easiest way to deal with spam is to delete it and move on, Santoro said.

Students receiving a large amount of spam from one address should send the body and header of the e-mail to security@psu.edu and the Computer and Network Security Office will take further action.