> So, just a general question, does it appear to anyone else that the > challenge/response software at the consumer level, contributes to the level > of spam anyone is receiving?
It is not really SPAM. (Well, sort of.)
Actually, a lot of it is spam. My thought is the spammers have figured this out, and are running a mail server where the return e-mail doesn't exist. They then capture all of the bounce and challenge response messages as a way of verifying the e-mail address.
Thats just my take on things, it's odd that this guy, who got one piece of spam through the filter in two years (which prompted the challenge response software purchase) start receiving about 30 or 40 a day right after start to use the software. He's opted out of the filter when he signed up, he's got a real obscure e-mail address, a combination of numbers and letters that aren't in any order that could be guessed. Swears up and down that he never gives it out to anyone but his family members. His public e-mail is a yahoo account.
The company selling the software told him we sold off his e-mail address :)
It is the software trying to send a message to the from address for validation.
Overall though, challenge/response software is flawed, in that many automated e-mails, such as newsletters, auto notifications and so forth will specifically use from addresses that can not receive e-mail, and will clearly state so in the body of the original message.
Therefore, in that since, it is adding to the SPAM problem.
John Tolmachoff MCSE CSSA Engineer/Consultant eServices For You www.eservicesforyou.com
> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:Declude.JunkMail- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rich > Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2003 8:47 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [Declude.JunkMail] Challenge - Response software > > We've got a customer using some sort of challenge response software that's > causing massive amounts of stored mail on his hard drive. Originally the > mail was being help in our queue and I told him he'd have to get rid of the > software or store the mail on his computer. Now that he's switched to > storing mail on his computer, the amount of stored mail is over whelming > him. His complaint is he never used to get this much spam. > > I demonstrated, for my own gratification, how his challenge response > response software is broadcasting his e-mail address. I sent him a message > using my yahoo account, about 10 of them, with a return address from my > mail server that didn't exist. Then I parsed the log and sent him the > results, his e-mail address showed up ten times as the send to an > undeliverable address. > > > -------------- > Rich Griebel > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.kendra.com > Scanned for Viruses using Declude and F-Prot > > > --- > [This E-mail was scanned for viruses by Declude Virus (http://www.declude.com)] > > --- > This E-mail came from the Declude.JunkMail mailing list. To > unsubscribe, just send an E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], and > type "unsubscribe Declude.JunkMail". The archives can be found > at http://www.mail-archive.com.
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Rich Griebel
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.kendra.com
Scanned for Viruses using Declude and F-Prot
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