Dilbert – Our Spam Filter Has Become Self Aware?

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:48:44 +0000

Has it come to this? Do we need an anti-spam engine so powerful that it becomes self aware?

While it is nice that spam volume has declined some since McColo has been shut down there is still a lot of messages out there that are spam and a vacuum right now waiting to be filled by other spammers.

While there is a temporary lull in spam volume the underlying problem still remains. The SMTP protocol that we all rely on and both love and hate was originally designed when the Internet was a small well-run network and everyone knew everyone else or knew someone who knew them and could vouch for each new connection or request to relay mail for someone. Open Relay mail servers were the norm and not the exception. Today you can’t setup an open mail server and have it live on the internet for more than a few hours, some would say minutes, before a spammer has discovered it and is hammering away at it.

While there are some good techniques to supply message repudiation (SPF and Domain Keys) the use and deployment of them are not universal and they will not become universal until all e-mail administrator know and understand what you can and can’t do with these techniques and all mail servers use these tools out of the box or make it easy to understand and configure.

In my opinion all mail servers should be able to check Real Time Black lists, SPF records and verify Domain Key signatures – even the ‘basic’ and for free versions of products. Lets get the tools needed to combat spam into everyone’s hands and educate each other in the proper setup and use of these tools.

- The Spam Cryer

“Bud Has Mail” – Watchguard Videos Worth Watching

admin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:17:52 +0000

In the Internet Age online videos are becoming more and more prevalent as they are easily distributed and are often more effective at getting a point across then forcing the visitor to read a bunch of text.

With this in mind Watchguard released some nice video tutorials about network security that are entertaining and have some excellent ideas worth showing your average user.

Similar in style to the French children books “Martine” (You know “Martine goes to the market“, “Martine visit her friends“, etc), we follow the adventures of Bud, a typical user of online services.

In “Bud Has Mail” watch how Bud learns how to handle his e-mail more safely.

Click to watch the video

In “Bud Logs In” watch how Bud learns how to manage his network passwords!

Click to watch the video

Enjoy!

- Shaun

The Spam Cryer » WatchGuard

Dilbert – Our Spam Filter Has Become Self Aware?

“Bud Has Mail” – Watchguard Videos Worth Watching