> Unfortunately,  some  spammers  look up the DNS and instead of using
> the  MX record they try the alternate host records such as "mail" or
> "pop"  which  point to our mailbox server and then try to connect to
> deliver their spam.

They've been doing this for a while. And don't kid yourself: if you're
listening  on  TCP 25, it doesn't matter what A record you have (or no
record at all).

> If we could set iMail to only allow incoming authenticated sessions,
> it  would block these connections. We can't use IP addresses because
> we don't know the IP's of our clients and it varies.

A  realistic  target,  since  Ipswitch  doesn't look to be adding this
function  _by  design_  anytime  soon,  could be setting up an MTA for
which  your  domains  are considered remote--thus implicitly requiring
authentication  for  everyone--which  accepts  the same (or reasonably
similar)  usernames  and  identical passwords to those honored by your
mailbox  server.  And the ease of deploying such a solution depends on
which  IMail  userbase  option you are using: if you are using ODBC or
NT-integrated  userbase,  you  can  set  easily up a dummy domain on a
dedicated submission-only server that hits the same userbase back end,
thus allowing users to use the exact same simple username and password
(if  you  have only one domain) or a slightly adapted username such as
[EMAIL PROTECTED]   and   the   same  password  (for  multiple
domains). If you are using NT-integrated, in fact, you can use MS SMTP
on  the  mailbox server to serve the same purpose. If you're using the
IMail  native  userbase,  however, such relative simplicity will eluse
you.

> Is  there  any  port  forwarding  utility that can sniff packets and
> block  non-authentication  sessions  or  is there any other solution
> than  waiting  for  imail to have an "accept only authenticated smtp
> connections" option?

Well, you can do all kinds of things with application-level firewalls,
like  with  CheckPoint's  INSPECT  language,  but I wouldn't freak out
about that now.

--Sandy


------------------------------------
Sanford Whiteman, Chief Technologist
Broadleaf Systems, a division of
Cypress Integrated Systems, Inc.
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

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