Sam Spade (software)

Sam Spade is the name of a Windows software tool designed to assist in tracking down sources of e-mail spam. It is also the name of a free web service that provides access to similar online tools. The Sam Spade utility was authored by Steve Atkins in 1997. It is named after the fictional character Sam Spade. The main features (query tools) are:

• Zone Transfer – ask a DNS server for all it knows about a domain
• SMTP Relay Check – check whether a mail server allows third party relaying
• Scan Addresses – scan a range of IP addresses looking for open ports
• Crawl website – search a website, looking for email addresses, offsite links, etc
• Browse web – browse the web in a raw http format
• Check cancels – search your news server for cancel messages
• Fast and Slow Traceroute – find the route packets take between you and a remote system
• S-Lang command – issue a scripting command; useful for debugging scripts
• Decode URL – decipher an obfuscated URL
• Parse email headers – read email headers and make a guess about the origin of the email

External links

• Sam Spade home page (currently offline)
• Sam Spade download sites Windows client download page (currently offline)
• Download via PCWorld Sam Spade Windows product and download page
• Screenshot at PCWorld Sam Spade software screenshot
• Using Sam Spade Sam Spade tutorial by Terry Pasley, 2003, maintained at SANS Institute InfoSec Reading Room