Re: VGER does gradual SPF activation (FAQ matter)

[Gerhard Mack <gmack@innerfire.net>]

On Mon, 12 Jun 2006, jdow wrote:

> Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 01:23:30 -0700
> From: jdow <jdow@earthlink.net>
> To: Bernd Petrovitsch <bernd@firmix.at>
> Cc: davids@webmaster.com, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
> Subject: Re: VGER does gradual SPF activation (FAQ matter)
> 
> From: "Bernd Petrovitsch" <bernd@firmix.at>
> 
> > On Sat, 2006-06-10 at 22:17 -0700, jdow wrote:
> > [...]
> > > that matter. It simply says, "When I went and looked at the guy's claimed
> > > mail source the spf record said he was who he said he was." Who vouches
> > 
> > No. SPF simply defines legitimate outgoing MTAs for a given domain.
> > Within a domain, it is up to the postmaster to allow/disallow address
> > forgery and for the rest of a world (to tell where legitimate email of
> > his domain comes from), the postmaster defines SPF records.
> > 
> > Bernd
> 
> And just recently we received a spate of spam that came from a domain
> that disappeared almost immediately. Domain names are cheap. They can
> vouch for the spam run. Then what happens to them doesn't matter. But
> the SPF record passes.
> 
> {^_-}   There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
>        Too many people think SPF is a free lunch.

Look at it from a mail admin's perspective.  The bounces are now going 
nowhere instead of some poor user's mailbox.  You have just cut the damage 
in half.

Innerfire.net used to be foraged as a spam sender every other month and 
gmack@innerfire.net so often that I still have procmail filters to 
redirect bounces to their own folder.  The thousands of messages I was 
getting was infuriating but it has been a very rare event since I setup 
SPF on my domain.

SPF may not filter spam much but if you set it to autofail you can reduce 
the risk for innocent mail admins.

	Gerhard

--
Gerhard Mack

gmack@innerfire.net

<>< As a computer I find your faith in technology amusing.
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