Microsoft Will Fight SPAM In Exchange 2003 [Titanium]
Posted by Daniel Fleshbourne on 29 January 2003 - 10:15 · 8 comments & 970 views
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Full name: Daniel Fleshbourne
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Full name: Daniel Fleshbourne
Forum name: Daniel
Contact: via forum PM
Submissions: Normal · Headline
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#1 Posted by Tom Servo on 29 Jan 2003 - 11:27
- I should run it on my spare box then and let it filter all the spam LOL
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(2 replies)
#2 Posted by TheReaperMan on 29 Jan 2003 - 11:44
- mm, if you ask me I think isps should filer out ppls spam, and act more on it than they do already
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#3 Posted by tmaxxtigger on 29 Jan 2003 - 12:51
- That was the best thing about Earthlink, they have Spaminator that filters your email before it gets to your inbox, then you just visit their Spaminator site once in a while to check on the mail that was filtered, making adjustments as required, cool stuff, and it was 100% effective when I used it some time ago...
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#4 Posted by Tobbe on 29 Jan 2003 - 15:38
- Why not stop the spam before it comes out? They put fake domains in the e-mail, why not prevent that? Or make it impossible to send e-mail through a proxy server. Why not just re-write the whole mail protocol? That would solve it!
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(1 reply)
#5 Posted by Spider_Man on 29 Jan 2003 - 16:58
- I work for the countries Largest Prvately Owned ISP in the Country and let me tell you, we not only filter for SPAm but we also have a program that scans our mail servers as mail comes in. When it comes in we are able to see the mail and if it is SPAM then we delete it. The problem ius this,due to so many stupid people who go to a site and sign-up for services with that site they wind up aggreeing somewhere to one of those stupid "Opt-In" sender mail groups and then we can't do much because even though we know what it is, there are still users that see that Pop-Up that reads: "CONGRATULATIONS, You are a Winner" and click on the little button and, well we all know what happens then. Ofcourse we all know what that little message really means, it reall means: "Hi, I'm going to annoy you now. If you click me, then you are a moron!" LOL! As far as trying to stop it before it comes out, not possible. Spammers find SPAM servers, servers with Open Relays so that they can SPam through that and not get caught. It works obviously. They also make up fake accts using bots on yahoo and that creates what we've so lovingly named the SPAMBot. As far as re-writing the mail protocol...which one/ POP, IMAP, SMTP? There are different protocols out there for this stuff. No, the best way to kill the Spammers is for weveryone to become intelligent and start filtering. Once they quit getting customers then they'll lighten up on the amount that is being sent. You do have to remember that unfortueatly, sopme idiots out there like this stuff.
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#5.1 Posted by Jon on 29 Jan 2003 - 19:23
- Or maybe you guys at ISPs should be regulated, as it is essentially your fault that it hasn't been capped already. Filters are such a short term solution, I dont believe spam will stop because you block it, it'll just pretend to be personal mail in different ways. Sure its worth a shot, but I recon spam will find a way around it. The fact is, unless they can actually relay the mail, it cant be sent. How is most spam relayed? Hacked boxes and open relays. Block INCOMING port 25 for home user accounts, et voila, no more open relays. So then its just hacked boxes to resolve, which is a different issue. Open relays is a big problem, and can be largly resolved by a global incoming - port 25 blocking effort for home users. If a user needs a *published* smpt server, then can upgrade to a higher level of account, move them to another subnet, and allow incoming port 25. Before anyone bitches about this, this would still allow users to run private smtp servers purerly for sending mails, they simply wont be able to accept mail from the internet as a MX, which should be fine for *all* home user account holders. Loads of ppl on /. didn't appreciate that concept, exposing themselfs as nothing more than hobbyists with little clue.
"Spam is a hot issue right now," Ed Wu said, "and we know that we have to deliver a solution in [Exchange 2003]. We have to make sure that we do the right thing, that our solution is flexible enough that when things change--and the spam adapts--our solution will have the delta to adjust. It should be flexible and adaptable, as are antivirus filters today. Our general philosophy is that we need to stop spam before it hits users' inboxes." Wu noted my mention last week of Bayesian filters and newer, more adaptable spam filters, and said that although he couldn't yet reveal how Microsoft plans to address this concern, the solution will be similar to the methods I described and will be a complete solution. He said that Microsoft plans to announce Exchange 2003's spam-fighting tools soon.
Addressing the Bundling Problem
Although most UPDATE readers who responded to last week's commentary agreed that Microsoft shouldn't consider releasing Exchange 2003 without pervasive antispam tools, several readers questioned this approach. "Isn't this exactly the kind of product bundling that got Microsoft in trouble in the first place?" one reader asked. "What about all the third-party companies that make antispam add-ons for Exchange?" In answer to these concerns, Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly on messaging servers, and it's hard to make the argument that the company would be illegally leveraging its dominance to force other companies out of the market. I suspect that Microsoft will provide a solution similar to the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) in Windows 2003 and Windows XP that provides a baseline of functionality while providing hooks for third parties to build on. Again, we have to take a wait-and-see approach.