[KLUG Members] Question about spam..

[Bruce Smith]

> Ive been reading the list for a while now, I was wondering if there was any
> email programs out there for linux, that would help eliminate the massive
> amounts of spam I recieve to my domain. 

If you run your own mail server, there are services that will block
addresses of known spammers.  With sendmail you setup a DNS-blacklist
and use someone's blacklist to block the spammers.

Spamcop.net has runs a free DNS blacklist server, but warn they are
overly aggressive so you may block some legit email.  They also warn
they may start charging for the service at any time.

mail-abuse.org has DNS blacklist services, and they charge for
commercial use.

I'm seriously considering the mail-abuse.org service for my company.  
If anyone has any other recommendations, please share.

As far as reporting (as Bob already mentioned), the script adcomplain.pl
is good, but it falls flat on it's face it if can't reverse lookup the
originating IP address, and reports to the wrong place.  Spamcop.net's
reporting service is easier, quicker, MUCH more accurate, ... but is
also more aggressive and reports to more places than adcomplain. 
Because of that, some administrators ignore email from spamcop due to
the high volume.  This is evident to me because of the fewer replies I
get to my reports sent thru spamcop.

If I have the time, I run it through adcomplain.pl & spamcop.net BOTH. 
If they match, I report with adcomplain to get the best results. 
Otherwise I report thru spamcop.  Or if I'm in a hurry, I just run it
through spamcop and take the easy way.

> you can reach me at hahah this list...by the way I was running redhat 7.2
> with out telnet running also no smtp on this particular server. he used an
> exploit to get root access.. only took him 2 mins to completely F&&* things
> up.. pretty nice of him..

Shameless plug of my own:   http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/bsware/
That's Redhat 7.2 updated with all the latest packages, every week.
Keep your system updated!  And, select the "medium" firewall when
installing Redhat 7.2.

You should also consider a dedicated firewall, like IPCop, and keep all
of your computers behind it.

--------------------------------------------
Bruce Smith                bruce@armintl.com
System Administrator / Network Administrator
Armstrong International, Inc.
Three Rivers, Michigan  49093  USA
http://www.armstrong-intl.com/
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