[Asrg] where the message originated (was: DKIM role?) (SM)

[Ian Eiloart]

--On 20 January 2009 07:10:15 -0500 Rich Kulawiec <rsk at gsp.org> wrote:

> On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 11:49:40AM +0000, Ian Eiloart wrote:
>> Only when DKIM and SPF are in wider use will a centralised
>> reputation system be very useful.
>
> Don't hold your breath.  SPF is dead -- and good riddance, it was a very
> stupid idea -- and a centralized reputation system of any kind would
> be a disaster.  It's one of the very last things anyone who is actually
> opposed to spam should ever want to see happen.

I disagree fundamentally about the centralise reputation system. My most 
effective anti-spam tool is a centralised reputation system for IP 
addresses - the two RBLs that I consult. For example, a few days ago, I 
rejected 260,000 messages and delivered 56,000. 170,000 were rejected as a 
result of RBL lookups. I get very few complaints about false positives from 
those RBLs.

Anyway, if you don't want to use a centralised reputation system, then use 
a local one. I would do that in the first instance, then fall back to a 
centralised system when I got a neutral result.

The key thing is that you can't use any kind of email domain or email 
address based reputation system unless you have evidence that the sender 
address isn't forged.


> ---Rsk
> _______________________________________________
> Asrg mailing list
> Asrg at irtf.org
> http://www.irtf.org/mailman/listinfo/asrg



-- 
Ian Eiloart
IT Services, University of Sussex
x3148