Why do I get spam from kent.edu addresses?

Question: 

I receive spam e-mail or returned message failures from kent.edu addresses, including my own.  Does this mean that my (or my colleague's) computer has been hacked?

Answer: 

The majority of "kent.edu" spam you see is simply from a forged address, and no more than an annoyance.  It is very easy to send an e-mail that looks like it's from someone else.  Spammers use forgery when sending messages because it increases the likelihood that their e-mails will be read when they appear to have come from a legitimate source.

Although less likely, your computer, or someone's you know, may be infected with a "spam-bot," which is software that allows spammers to send their messages using your computer.  These messages can appear to be from your e-mail address, but often do not.

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