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Date:	Sat, 27 Mar 2004 05:41:37 PST8PDT,4,1,0,3600,10,-1,0,7200,3600
From:	Peter Skye <pskye@peterskye.com >
Reply-To:	scoug-programming@scoug.com
To:	scoug-programming@scoug.com, scoug-bod@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Programming: SCOUG Server: time allocation; spam filtering

Content Type: text/plain

Cross-posted to SCOUG-Programming and SCOUG-BOD because not all Board
members are on the Programming list.
_____

Hiya,

First, the SCOUG server is taking a _lot_ of my time and I've had to cut
it to one hour per day. The message below (to SCOUG member Steve Carter
in response to a helpful message he sent me) took up the rest of today's
SCOUG hour after I first reviewed the mail logs and zapped some spam
messages (the queue was building again).

Second, there are a couple of priorities higher than my reviewing the
new mail server candidates. FTP isn't working and SCOUG-General isn't
working, and dSync backup isn't configured yet. FTP is an easy fix and
I'll do it with _tomorrow's_ hour, then I'll work on dSync and
SCOUG-General.

Third, the message below is my personal stance on spam filtering at the
mail server.

- Peter
_____

In response to a Friday 26March personal message from SCOUG member Steve
Carter about spam:

Hi Steve Carter,

Some comments:

-- 1. Changing @scoug.com email addresses to graphics: Nobody is
"mining" the SCOUG web site for email addresses. I don't find anybody
mirroring the site when I look at the logs (you would have to mirror
[copy] the site so you could then search all the pages for email
addresses). And the incoming spam is using a random name dictionary --
we get messages for susan@scoug.com, theresa@scoug.com, etc. The
spammer software just "guesses" at names and then removes names which
bounce. Proof in point: I get almost no spam (maybe one a day) for
TheDuck@scoug.com and KickADuck@scoug.com, which are names that wouldn't
be in a name dictionary. And these names are on a _lot_ of SCOUG web
pages.

-- 2. The SMTP protocol transfers the header and message body
separately. You can reject a message without receiving the body.

-- 3. Identifying spam messages is extremely tricky. a) Some group
sponsors add commercial messages in the tag at the end of each message.
b) It's almost impossible to discuss spam without using some of the
keywords which trigger spam filters. c) There are about two dozen
"major classes" of spam (business opportunities, medicines, adult
images, etc) but there is no agreement on which of these classes should
be rejected. d) Administering a spam filter requires a _lot_ of work --
they have to be trained, untrained, and the spammers have a lot of
tricks they can use (such as Steve Carter) to hide their
messages.

-- 4. Authentication of the From: header line doesn't work because some
major ISPs (such as AOL) don't respond to the requests.

-- 5. Authentication of the To: header line doesn't work with Bcc's.
If I send you a Bcc at carter@scoug.com it won't authenticate.

-- 6. Some people _want_ the spam messages. At the SCOUG meeting there
was one person in the audience (I think it was Bob) who said he had
called his ISP and told them to turn off their spam filter for his
account, and he is not alone (the ISP spam filters _do_ reject good
messages). They don't actually want the spam, but they don't want to
risk having good messages disappearing. My attorney in Pasadena has a
legal tag line which constantly triggers spam filters.

Here's my opinion: No spam filtering on the SCOUG mail server. If you
can't do it right, don't do it at all. Let the individuals who receive
mail through @scoug.com set up their own personal spam filters
(bogofilter, Junk Spy, their ISP's filters through which the messages
are redirected, whatever).

As for circumventing anybody trying to harvest SCOUG email addresses,
it's already been done so it's too late, nobody seems to be doing it now
as per the logs, and modifying the web pages would require a lot of work
-- manpower which is better allocated elsewhere. So I'm against this
too.

- Peter

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