Re: tlug: spam

[kenhrd@example.com]

From: Michael Chiu <mchiu@example.com>
Subject: Re: tlug: spam
Date: Mon, 25 May 1998 17:02:19 +0900
Message-ID: <3569258B1E.B9C4MCHIU@example.com>

> I've always wondered about mail bombs and their effectiveness... If you
> mail bomb an account that doesn't exist, wouldn't it backfire and bounce
> right back to you, and in effect, bomb yourself?  I figure most spammers
> don't use their real e-mail accounts, or depend on a free mail server
> (ie Hotmail)...

Hi Michael,

Of course, they do not use their real addresses.  Some spammers/
bombers use the smtp server of innocent third party (no, he should
not be excused, since he has to protect his server from unauthorized
use).  If the smtp (sendmail for example) is not properly set to
deny relaying, it can be easily used by spammer - no authentication
mechanism on smtp.  Some Japanese network engineers call such hosts
as "踏台".  There are recipes available for setting sendmail.cf
using CF to avoid such abuse. 

Another way of bombing is to put fake "From" address and send
millions of mails to correct and wrong addresses.  The owner of
the "From" address will get thousands (if not millions) of
error mails and complaints.  I don't know how I can avoid such
bombing....

The above are all from I heard/read before.

Regards
Ken Harada




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