M3AAWG is celebrating two decades of progress and achievement by spotlighting the pioneers who have shaped our rich history. Throughout the remaining months of 2024, these trailblazers will be featured in this blog to help share the collective story of M3AAWG. Join us as we highlight the inspiring stories of these innovators and champions for action who have advanced our mission to combat online abuse.

This month’s interview features a conversation with Sam Silberman, who has served as M3AAWG’s treasurer since 2011. He is also a founding member of our organization, having joined us in 2004. He also served as Co-Chair of our prior Marketing and Communications Committees and Internal Productivity Working Groups.

In addition to his robust contributions to M3AAWG, Sam brings more than 25 years of experience in email software development, combating spam, and improving email delivery through industry policy and technical solutions as the Director of Standards and Industry Relations at Constant Contact. Sam is now sharing his experience over the last 20 years, from the first meeting in Boston to participating in M3AAWG's growth and evolution, adapting to fight increasingly sophisticated forms of online abuse and emerging challenges.

1. How long have you been with M3AAWG?

I attended the founding meeting of M3AAWG in Boston in 2004.

2. What inspired you to engage and contribute to M3AAWG?

I worked for one of the founding companies of M3AAWG, (Software.com/Openwave Systems). We started M3AAWG from an idea generated by Rich Wong. In 2002, we gathered ISP customers to discuss how to stop spam in their customer networks. It was the first time many of the network operators had met. They all discovered they had the same problem and started brainstorming ways to solve problems related to spam. This event eventually turned into what we now call M3AAWG.

3. What would you say M3AAWG’s most important contribution to the industry has been over the past 20 years?

That's a difficult question. I don't think there is one single contribution, but many important contributions. They include:

• Establishing a standard to report abuse to Internet Service Providers (ARF/MARF).

• Creating best practices for Internet Service Providers to secure customer networks (for example, blocking outbound port25 by default).

• Determining best practices for email authentication (DMARC/DKIM).

4. What would you consider to be the biggest change in M3AAWG from its early days to now?

There have been a few changes and the first is size. M3AAWG grew from 15 member companies to over 250.This growth allowed us to reach many more companies allowing the promotion of anti-abuse best practices.The next change I want to mention is the range of topics.We started with just trying to stop spam but soon realized that spam was a symptom of a bigger threat. Botnets, Mailware and Account Compromise were all root causes of generating spam. We needed to help prevent those bigger threats to effectively stop spam.

5. What would you consider the most significant challenge M3AAWG has faced in its 20-year history?

The biggest challenge we faced, and still face today, is the ever-changing internet ecosystem. We continually fight the good fight against one type of abuse, only to find the bad actors pivot to attack people in new and more effective ways. A current example is AI,which allows bad actors to quickly generate high-quality scams to fool the best of us. As an organization, we need to keep innovating ways to stop abuse to keep up.

6. What is one of your best memories or proudest moments with M3AAWG?

The JD Falk award for the group of crypto scientists who wrote “Keys Under Doormats.” Honoring this group of scientists, who helped defend internet security of government-mandated "backdoors," was an important and proud moment for our organization. It helped inform the government why strong security is important to us all and the unintended consequences of weakening crypto for law enforcement, which ultimately weakens security for us all.

7. What advice do you have for someone getting started in M3AAWG?

Seek out members and ask questions. We are all here to help and share what we know. Volunteer for a committee, Open Round Table, or anything else. All help is welcome. New people/members are the best for keeping our ideas fresh and relevant.

8. What role has M3AAWG played in your career?

Participating in a large professional community focused on a common goal of "stopping abuse" has absolutely helped me build my career.Anytime I attend a M3AAWG meeting, I learn something new that I can bring back to my day job to help fight abuse. Employers seek out people who are passionate in the fight to stop abuse and who are active in M3AAWG and other like-minded groups; it is a great way to demonstrate your potential value to any company. I am confident that my active participation in M3AAWG has played a significant role in my career journey.

9. What is your greatest fear/hope for the online security/anti-abuse industry?

My greatest fear is that we get complacent and think, "spam is solved."Bad actors get better every year. They send less spam because each email is better targeted to trick victims into clicking and getting scammed. We need to keep focusing our efforts on stopping this abuse, no matter how big or small it may be. The harder we make it for bad actors, the more it costs them, and the more likely they are to move on to something else.

While much work remains, M3AAWG members like Sam, along with our industry partners and peers, have made an undeniably significant impact over the past two decades. Their efforts have paved the way for the next generation of contributors to build upon these strategies while continuing to work toward solving the herculean challenge of online abuse.

We are ready to continue to establish best practices and innovative techniques to tackle today’s challenges, thanks to the strength of our network, which is built on the contributions of Sam and his peers. We sincerely thank Sam for his invaluable contributions, which have helped bring us all closer to a future free from online abuse.