On Tue, Apr 16, 2002 at 09:03:57AM +0100, Alexander.O'[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> 
> No one has mentioned restricting the commands on the server like VRFY and
> HELP etc... If you cant verify a name on the server then the person who is
> faking emails from your server will have a harder time of sending emails
> from your server.
>

ROTFL... what the?  You think the forgers really care to VRFY a name?
Most people turn vrfy off in the belief that they will stop "hackers"
gaining information about their network.  I say think because the very
act of me replying to this message gets my email address into various
web based archives of this list which means they need not bother
prodding away at my mail gateway trying to guess.  As for help... well
that is just a waste of time these days...I have been tempted in the
past just to replace that with something that says "no help for the
helpless" but never got around to it.

 
> . This
> way you only need to set your mail server or firewall to allow SMTP
> connections to your mail server from their mail server thus reducing the
> chance of having your mail sever being used to send spam mail.
>

Oh yeah - and hope that your ISP is not totally clueless, the sad fact
of life is that having a clueful ISP is getting to be a bit of a
lottery.  It also means that you no longer have any idea whether your
mail has been delivered or if it is hanging around on the ISP's mail
server.  Added to that, your mail is now conveniently spooled on a
server you have no control over for anyone to examine.  Sure, even
when you deliver the mail yourself you don't have a guarantee that it
will not be held up somewhere in transit but to propose forcing your
ISP to relay all your mail just to prevent you being used as a relay
seems... excessive.

> Also I
> strongly advise you turn relaying of on you mail server as this will get
> rid of a lot of the fake emails being sent from your server, but if you can
> don the above this should stop the problem anyway.
>

Actually - this should be step one.
 
> Although no matter what you do, someone could still fake an email to from
> another mail server but using your domain so still making you the brunt of
> any backlash that may occur from someone spamming people with your email
> address.
> 

They can and do do this already.  I have had to clue-bat some idiots
that cannot read mail headers past the From: line that the mail they
have received purporting to come from our domain did not originate
from our domain.

-- 
Brett Lymn
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