Spam represents a concept defining any unsolicited e-mail sent to numerous receivers simultaneously.
The contents and purpose of such emails vary, ranging from advertising messages to phishing attacks.
Anti-spam utilities are capable of detecting the sender IP of a message and blocking it from entering the user's inbox, thus protecting one from accessing infected emails or annoying advertisements.
There are also a number of spam blockers that offer their users the option to send reports regarding their spam, in order to increase their application's protection level.