the first spam email
loreops culturesecurity
A 1978 DEC marketing message blasted to hundreds of ARPANET users, generally cited as the first spam.
Marketer Gary Thuerk emailed roughly 400 users on the US West Coast to advertise a DEC computer demo, drawing immediate complaints about misuse of the network. The word 'spam' for such messages came later, borrowed from a Monty Python sketch, but Thuerk's blast is the usual origin point.
Also known as: Gary Thuerk, DEC spam, first UCE
Sources
- Templeton, 'Reaction to the DEC Spam of 1978'