Re: MS mail bombs

From: Jacob Anawalt (jacob_at_cachevalley.com)
Date: 09/23/03

  • Next message: J. Bruce Fields: "Re: gdm and window managers"
    Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 11:48:03 -0600 (MDT)
    To: "Debian-User" <debian-user@lists.debian.org>
    
    

    Ron Johnson said:
    > On Tue, 2003-09-23 at 02:54, kmark@pipeline.com wrote:
    >> On Sat, 20 Sep 2003, Ron Johnson wrote:
    >>
    >> > On Sat, 2003-09-20 at 00:22, Steve Lamb wrote:
    >> > > On Fri, 19 Sep 2003 23:08:42 -0600
    >> > > "Walt L. Williams" <wwilliams@intergate.com> wrote:
    >> > > > Is there anyone else out there being mail bombed with emails
    >> > > > that look like there from M$? The rate at which their coming
    >> > > > is increasing exponentially.
    >> > >
    >> > > My solution has been exim4, exiscan-acl, clamav, spamassassin
    >> and liberal
    >> > > use of shorewall's blacklist.
    >> >
    >> > Does that prevent the emails from being downloaded from the ISP's
    >> > pop3 server in the 1st place?
    >>
    >> If us linux users can create procmail filters or other such things, why
    >> cant the isp filter this stuff?
    >
    > They can, and they (or at least some) see it as an additional
    > revenue stream.
    >

    Some see it as a possible negative revenue stream, either out of concern
    over possible litigation or loss of customers if they start filtering all
    mail and some customers throw a fit because the isp is filtering but that
    wasn't in their service agreement or because of the potential extra tech
    support load in getting everyone the filtering they want.

    I'm not saying either of those are valid, just that they are reasons I've
    been given. The real reason could be as simple as not wanting to go
    through the effort of installing systems and not being farsighted enough
    to see the benefits.

    I think that Hotmail has a fairly easy system of giving the user options
    as to what they consider junk, and what to do with it. You have three
    levels of their junkfilter system with the highest being "it's junk if
    they're not in my contact or safe list". You can easily manage your
    contacts and safe list. You can add mailing lists to a special list of
    safe email so that it gets through. You can block specific senders. And
    you can add some pretty simple subject or from filters. You can opt to
    have "junkmail" auto-deleted or moved to the Junk box where it is
    auto-purged if it is more than seven days old.

    There have to be ISP's using some other web mail control system that
    provides these options as well. I've only come across it in Hotmail
    because I haven't really looked anywhere else.

    The hotmail setup is no user-customizable bayesian/Razor/etc
    SpamAssassined/procmailed/Sieve rule set, but works for me. I use my
    hotmail address on forms where I don't trust the collecting party to not
    sell/give away my address and I have hotmail junkfiltering everything that
    I haven't authorized. I can still get that 'your password is' message from
    the Junk Box as long as I check within seven days but I never have to look
    at or download the rest of the unsolicited/unauthorized email.

    There have been many posts to the lists about using filter X to stop email
    Y, rules and server overloads, and why debian-user posters are getting so
    much email from this windows worm that I think we have all been in !spam
    mode. I've had some thoughts (but I'm not saying they're good thoughts) on
    the idea that I'll start a new thread for.

    --
    Jacob
    -- 
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  • Next message: J. Bruce Fields: "Re: gdm and window managers"

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