RE: [Declude.JunkMail] Test based on results of other tests

2003-09-03 Thread Nick Hayer
Folks,

Is there a test that can be based on the results of 2 or more other 
specific tests?  ex: an email that fails both HELOBOGUS and 
BADHEADERS would fail HELOHEAD and have x number of points 
added/deducted to it?

Thanks

Nick
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RE: [Declude.JunkMail] Test based on results of other tests

2003-09-03 Thread R. Scott Perry

Is there a test that can be based on the results of 2 or more other
specific tests?  ex: an email that fails both HELOBOGUS and
BADHEADERS would fail HELOHEAD and have x number of points
added/deducted to it?
No, that is not possible.  It is something that has been requested, but it 
looks like a feature that few people would use.

   -Scott
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RE: [Declude.JunkMail] Test based on results of other tests

2003-09-03 Thread John Tolmachoff \(Lists\)
 Is there a test that can be based on the results of 2 or more other
 specific tests?  ex: an email that fails both HELOBOGUS and
 BADHEADERS would fail HELOHEAD and have x number of points
 added/deducted to it?
 
 No, that is not possible.  It is something that has been requested, but it
 looks like a feature that few people would use.

Although I am not a programmer, the problem with having a test like that
would require a redesign of declude.exe, so that the various junkmail tests
are run in distinct separate sections.

For example, it would have to say run all white tests, wait until finished,
run all LP4R tests, wait until finished, run Filter tests, wait until
finished, and so forth and then run iftestthentest last.

That would slow the program down, and in an ISP scenario, that can cause
problems when dealing with thousands of messages per hour.

John Tolmachoff MCSE CSSA
Engineer/Consultant
eServices For You
www.eservicesforyou.com


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RE: [Declude.JunkMail] Test based on results of other tests

2003-09-03 Thread Karen D. Oland
Scott,

This feature would be of GREAT use.  Many simply haven't thought out the
implications of allowing the ability to combine tests.

One example: the gentleman that wants to filter for specific names, but only
one one domain -- this should allow setting that up.

Adding the ability to combine results from two lists would make many of the
tests much more effective (but, of course, more complicated to maintain).

 -Original Message-
 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of R. Scott Perry
 Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 1:35 PM
 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Subject: RE: [Declude.JunkMail] Test based on results of other tests



 Is there a test that can be based on the results of 2 or more other
 specific tests?  ex: an email that fails both HELOBOGUS and
 BADHEADERS would fail HELOHEAD and have x number of points
 added/deducted to it?

 No, that is not possible.  It is something that has been
 requested, but it
 looks like a feature that few people would use.

 -Scott
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 Declude Virus: Catches known viruses and is the leader in mailserver
 vulnerability detection.
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RE: [Declude.JunkMail] Test based on results of other tests

2003-09-03 Thread Karen D. Oland
Actually, it could be a minor change to the processing  -- at the
$default$.junkmaillevel, rather than global.cfg -- as this is not a
test, but a handling of the test results.  It would mean order dependence,
usually (or the processing of combining tests done first, then other
handling done).  The minor change being the ability to keep adding weight
at this point in processing.

Or, if no added weight were allowed, then a preprocessing of the $junkmail
file could allow seeting pass/fail of combine tests, based on test results
known at that point.

The difficulty from a programming standpoint will depend on where it is
implemented, what features are allowed (just failing a new test name or
adding weight) and the modularity of the existing program code.

As to slowing down the system -- you already have to wait until all tests
and whitelist are processed for each message, before a final decision is
made on the message. This should not make any difference there.

 -Original Message-
 From:John Tolmachoff
  Is there a test that can be based on the results of 2 or more other
  specific tests?  ex: an email that fails both HELOBOGUS and
  BADHEADERS would fail HELOHEAD and have x number of points
  added/deducted to it?
 
  No, that is not possible.  It is something that has been
 requested, but it
  looks like a feature that few people would use.

 Although I am not a programmer, the problem with having a test like that
 would require a redesign of declude.exe, so that the various
 junkmail tests
 are run in distinct separate sections.

 For example, it would have to say run all white tests, wait until
 finished,
 run all LP4R tests, wait until finished, run Filter tests, wait until
 finished, and so forth and then run iftestthentest last.

 That would slow the program down, and in an ISP scenario, that can cause
 problems when dealing with thousands of messages per hour.


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RE: [Declude.JunkMail] Test based on results of other tests

2003-09-03 Thread John Tolmachoff \(Lists\)
 Actually, it could be a minor change to the processing  -- at the
 $default$.junkmaillevel, rather than Global.cfg -- as this is not a
 test, but a handling of the test results.  It would mean order
dependence,
 usually (or the processing of combining tests done first, then other
 handling done).  The minor change being the ability to keep adding
weight
 at this point in processing.

It is declude.exe itself that would have to be altered. You actually
reminded me of how complex this would be. Both the Global.cfg and
appropriate .junkmail file would have to be loaded into memory, some tests
run, consult the files, other tests run, consult the files, final tests run,
consult the files and so forth.

Right now, declude.exe loads the Global.cfg to determine what tests to run,
the after tests have been run, consults the appropriate .junkmail file to
determine what action to take.

John Tolmachoff MCSE CSSA
Engineer/Consultant
eServices For You
www.eservicesforyou.com


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RE: [Declude.JunkMail] Test based on results of other tests

2003-09-03 Thread Karen D. Oland
 You actually
 reminded me of how complex this would be. Both the Global.cfg and
 appropriate .junkmail file would have to be loaded into memory, some tests
 run, consult the files, other tests run, consult the files, final
 tests run, consult the files and so forth.

You are trying to make this much more difficult.

Yes, declude would have to change --- as it does whenever any new test type
is added.

But there would be absolutely no need to run tests, consult files, etc.  As
far as loading the files into memory -- that already takes place (or declude
would not work at all). Once loaded, in the part of the program that
processes the $junkmail file (whichever one is relevant), a scan could be
done for special lines (eg, TWOTESTS COMBINEAND TEST1 TEST2 or TWOTESTS
COMBINEXOR TEST1 TEST2 -- since OR is not really necessary, but XOR and AND
would be good logical tests).  The new tests are added to the list of tests
(already in memory) with pass/fail info. Then processing continues as usual.
Really, not an extrememly large amount of work.  No starting, stopping, etc.
All tests would run as they do now -- no need to change that.

Adding weights would be different and more flexible for some purposes, but
just the above would be an extreme jump forward in setting up tests --- one
example: if an email has certain words, we isolate it, as it MAY be porn
(they are reviewed and deleted or requeued). There are some ip4r tests that
identify possible sporn IP's -- we use these to add weight, but don't hold
(due to FP's). But, if the email msg fails both, we would probably delete
them outright and hold/review the rest.  Certain mailing lists also tend to
fail the suspect porn list due to either their subject (for instance, this
list) or the users there -- but we would ignore them if we had the ability
to combine the two pieces of info.

Adding weights: simple here as well. Scan global.cfg - strip out combine
tests, run all other tests as done now, in parallel or serial, not
relevant. when all results are back, before ending the thread, process the
combine tests and add weights to them as indicated.then pass control to the
part of the program that handles .junkmail.


 Right now, declude.exe loads the Global.cfg to determine what tests to
run,
 the after tests have been run, consults the appropriate .junkmail file to
 determine what action to take.

Which is exactly what it would continue to do, if the combine tests were
done in the $junkmail file. Not to mention, this gives ever more flexibility
for combining tests.

Karen (who considers this such an obvious solution to a programmer, but
suspects the patent office would issue a patent for such a technique, based
on no one else has filed one for it yet!).

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Re: [Declude.JunkMail] Test based on results of other tests

2003-09-03 Thread Matthew Bramble




I'm with you on how this would be accomplished, though it would
probably be a somewhat laborious rewrite in how scoring was handled in
comparison to how it is handled now. Just guessing of course.

This was actually my first feature request to Scott after purchasing
the application some time ago, and it's about the 5th time I've seen it
talked about in the past few weeks. While I have almost absolute faith
in just a few blacklists (SpamCop for example), I would definitely
combine many other blacklists that I have less faith in as one
test...in other words if a piece of mail failed both FIVETEN-SPAM and
SORBS-SPAM, then I would use the combined test to add on a hefty
penalty for an automatic fail. I could do the same for two different
open relay tests, figuring that if two know about it, then it is more
likely being used for spam and more likely to be fixed by a responsible
administrator rather than having their E-mail blocked over a longer
term. I would probably also apply this multi-test penalty to things
like NOABUSE and NOPOSTMASTER because I generally see just one failed
unless it is spam and I score them both very low individually. I might
even do something like credit points on two technical tests that are
often failed together, SPAMHEADERS and HELOBOGUS for instance, and that
would let me increase the scores on each individually (I'd have to
research this one more before I could claim it would be effective).

Maybe it will be a treat for v2.0 :)

And speaking of patents, anyone ever hear of this one?

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1Sect2=HITOFFd=PALLp=1u=/netahtml/srchnum.htmr=1f=Gl=50s1='6,368,227'.WKU.OS=PN/6,368,227RS=PN/6,368,227

Matt



Karen D. Oland wrote:

  
You actually
reminded me of how complex this would be. Both the Global.cfg and
appropriate .junkmail file would have to be loaded into memory, some tests
run, consult the files, other tests run, consult the files, final
tests run, consult the files and so forth.

  
  
You are trying to make this much more difficult.

Yes, declude would have to change --- as it does whenever any new test type
is added.

But there would be absolutely no need to run tests, consult files, etc.  As
far as loading the files into memory -- that already takes place (or declude
would not work at all). Once loaded, in the part of the program that
processes the $junkmail file (whichever one is relevant), a scan could be
done for special lines (eg, TWOTESTS COMBINEAND TEST1 TEST2 or TWOTESTS
COMBINEXOR TEST1 TEST2 -- since OR is not really necessary, but XOR and AND
would be good logical tests).  The new tests are added to the list of tests
(already in memory) with pass/fail info. Then processing continues as usual.
Really, not an extrememly large amount of work.  No starting, stopping, etc.
All tests would run as they do now -- no need to change that.

Adding weights would be different and more flexible for some purposes, but
just the above would be an extreme jump forward in setting up tests --- one
example: if an email has certain words, we isolate it, as it MAY be porn
(they are reviewed and deleted or requeued). There are some ip4r tests that
identify possible sporn IP's -- we use these to add weight, but don't hold
(due to FP's). But, if the email msg fails both, we would probably delete
them outright and hold/review the rest.  Certain mailing lists also tend to
fail the suspect porn list due to either their subject (for instance, this
list) or the users there -- but we would ignore them if we had the ability
to combine the two pieces of info.

Adding weights: simple here as well. Scan global.cfg - strip out "combine"
tests", run all other tests as done now, in parallel or serial, not
relevant. when all results are back, before ending the thread, process the
combine tests and add weights to them as indicated.then pass control to the
part of the program that handles .junkmail.

  
  
Right now, declude.exe loads the Global.cfg to determine what tests to

  
  run,
  
  
the after tests have been run, consults the appropriate .junkmail file to
determine what action to take.

  
  
Which is exactly what it would continue to do, if the combine tests were
done in the $junkmail file. Not to mention, this gives ever more flexibility
for combining tests.

Karen (who considers this such an obvious solution to a programmer, but
suspects the patent office would issue a patent for such a technique, based
on "no one else has filed one for it yet!).
  






Re: [Declude.JunkMail] Test based on results of other tests

2003-09-03 Thread Matthew Bramble




Shoot, my link got munged. Here's what I was really talking about:

Are patent methods patently absurd?
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-962182.html
"
The patent office has granted patents for side-to-side
swinging on a swing set and for making a peanut butter and jelly
sandwich without
a crust."

Matt



Matthew Bramble wrote:

  
  
I'm with you on how this would be accomplished, though it would
probably be a somewhat laborious rewrite in how scoring was handled in
comparison to how it is handled now. Just guessing of course.
  
This was actually my first feature request to Scott after purchasing
the application some time ago, and it's about the 5th time I've seen it
talked about in the past few weeks. While I have almost absolute faith
in just a few blacklists (SpamCop for example), I would definitely
combine many other blacklists that I have less faith in as one
test...in other words if a piece of mail failed both FIVETEN-SPAM and
SORBS-SPAM, then I would use the combined test to add on a hefty
penalty for an automatic fail. I could do the same for two different
open relay tests, figuring that if two know about it, then it is more
likely being used for spam and more likely to be fixed by a responsible
administrator rather than having their E-mail blocked over a longer
term. I would probably also apply this multi-test penalty to things
like NOABUSE and NOPOSTMASTER because I generally see just one failed
unless it is spam and I score them both very low individually. I might
even do something like credit points on two technical tests that are
often failed together, SPAMHEADERS and HELOBOGUS for instance, and that
would let me increase the scores on each individually (I'd have to
research this one more before I could claim it would be effective).
  
Maybe it will be a treat for v2.0 :)
  
And speaking of patents, anyone ever hear of this one?
  
  http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1Sect2=HITOFFd=PALLp=1u=/netahtml/srchnum.htmr=1f=Gl=50s1='6,368,227'.WKU.OS=PN/6,368,227RS=PN/6,368,227
  
Matt
  
  
  
Karen D. Oland wrote:
  

  You actually
reminded me of how complex this would be. Both the Global.cfg and
appropriate .junkmail file would have to be loaded into memory, some tests
run, consult the files, other tests run, consult the files, final
tests run, consult the files and so forth.



You are trying to make this much more difficult.

Yes, declude would have to change --- as it does whenever any new test type
is added.

But there would be absolutely no need to run tests, consult files, etc.  As
far as loading the files into memory -- that already takes place (or declude
would not work at all). Once loaded, in the part of the program that
processes the $junkmail file (whichever one is relevant), a scan could be
done for special lines (eg, TWOTESTS COMBINEAND TEST1 TEST2 or TWOTESTS
COMBINEXOR TEST1 TEST2 -- since OR is not really necessary, but XOR and AND
would be good logical tests).  The new tests are added to the list of tests
(already in memory) with pass/fail info. Then processing continues as usual.
Really, not an extrememly large amount of work.  No starting, stopping, etc.
All tests would run as they do now -- no need to change that.

Adding weights would be different and more flexible for some purposes, but
just the above would be an extreme jump forward in setting up tests --- one
example: if an email has certain words, we isolate it, as it MAY be porn
(they are reviewed and deleted or requeued). There are some ip4r tests that
identify possible sporn IP's -- we use these to add weight, but don't hold
(due to FP's). But, if the email msg fails both, we would probably delete
them outright and hold/review the rest.  Certain mailing lists also tend to
fail the suspect porn list due to either their subject (for instance, this
list) or the users there -- but we would ignore them if we had the ability
to combine the two pieces of info.

Adding weights: simple here as well. Scan global.cfg - strip out "combine"
tests", run all other tests as done now, in parallel or serial, not
relevant. when all results are back, before ending the thread, process the
combine tests and add weights to them as indicated.then pass control to the
part of the program that handles .junkmail.

  

  Right now, declude.exe loads the Global.cfg to determine what tests to


run,
  

  the after tests have been run, consults the appropriate .junkmail file to
determine what action to take.



Which is exactly what it would continue to do, if the combine tests were
done in the $junkmail file. Not to mention, this gives ever more flexibility
for combining tests.

Karen (who considers this such an obvious solution to a programmer, but
suspects the patent office would issue a patent for such a technique, based
on "no one else has filed one for it yet!).
  
  






Re: [Declude.JunkMail] Test based on results of other tests

2003-09-03 Thread Matthew Bramble




Shoot, my link got munged. Here's what I was really talking about:

Are patent methods patently absurd?
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-962182.html
"
The patent office has granted patents for side-to-side
swinging on a swing set and for making a peanut butter and jelly
sandwich without
a crust."

Matt



Matthew Bramble wrote:

  
  
I'm with you on how this would be accomplished, though it would
probably be a somewhat laborious rewrite in how scoring was handled in
comparison to how it is handled now. Just guessing of course.
  
This was actually my first feature request to Scott after purchasing
the application some time ago, and it's about the 5th time I've seen it
talked about in the past few weeks. While I have almost absolute faith
in just a few blacklists (SpamCop for example), I would definitely
combine many other blacklists that I have less faith in as one
test...in other words if a piece of mail failed both FIVETEN-SPAM and
SORBS-SPAM, then I would use the combined test to add on a hefty
penalty for an automatic fail. I could do the same for two different
open relay tests, figuring that if two know about it, then it is more
likely being used for spam and more likely to be fixed by a responsible
administrator rather than having their E-mail blocked over a longer
term. I would probably also apply this multi-test penalty to things
like NOABUSE and NOPOSTMASTER because I generally see just one failed
unless it is spam and I score them both very low individually. I might
even do something like credit points on two technical tests that are
often failed together, SPAMHEADERS and HELOBOGUS for instance, and that
would let me increase the scores on each individually (I'd have to
research this one more before I could claim it would be effective).
  
Maybe it will be a treat for v2.0 :)
  
And speaking of patents, anyone ever hear of this one?
  
  http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1Sect2=HITOFFd=PALLp=1u=/netahtml/srchnum.htmr=1f=Gl=50s1='6,368,227'.WKU.OS=PN/6,368,227RS=PN/6,368,227
  
Matt
  
  
  
Karen D. Oland wrote:
  

  You actually
reminded me of how complex this would be. Both the Global.cfg and
appropriate .junkmail file would have to be loaded into memory, some tests
run, consult the files, other tests run, consult the files, final
tests run, consult the files and so forth.



You are trying to make this much more difficult.

Yes, declude would have to change --- as it does whenever any new test type
is added.

But there would be absolutely no need to run tests, consult files, etc.  As
far as loading the files into memory -- that already takes place (or declude
would not work at all). Once loaded, in the part of the program that
processes the $junkmail file (whichever one is relevant), a scan could be
done for special lines (eg, TWOTESTS COMBINEAND TEST1 TEST2 or TWOTESTS
COMBINEXOR TEST1 TEST2 -- since OR is not really necessary, but XOR and AND
would be good logical tests).  The new tests are added to the list of tests
(already in memory) with pass/fail info. Then processing continues as usual.
Really, not an extrememly large amount of work.  No starting, stopping, etc.
All tests would run as they do now -- no need to change that.

Adding weights would be different and more flexible for some purposes, but
just the above would be an extreme jump forward in setting up tests --- one
example: if an email has certain words, we isolate it, as it MAY be porn
(they are reviewed and deleted or requeued). There are some ip4r tests that
identify possible sporn IP's -- we use these to add weight, but don't hold
(due to FP's). But, if the email msg fails both, we would probably delete
them outright and hold/review the rest.  Certain mailing lists also tend to
fail the suspect porn list due to either their subject (for instance, this
list) or the users there -- but we would ignore them if we had the ability
to combine the two pieces of info.

Adding weights: simple here as well. Scan global.cfg - strip out "combine"
tests", run all other tests as done now, in parallel or serial, not
relevant. when all results are back, before ending the thread, process the
combine tests and add weights to them as indicated.then pass control to the
part of the program that handles .junkmail.

  

  Right now, declude.exe loads the Global.cfg to determine what tests to


run,
  

  the after tests have been run, consults the appropriate .junkmail file to
determine what action to take.



Which is exactly what it would continue to do, if the combine tests were
done in the $junkmail file. Not to mention, this gives ever more flexibility
for combining tests.

Karen (who considers this such an obvious solution to a programmer, but
suspects the patent office would issue a patent for such a technique, based
on "no one else has filed one for it yet!).
  
  
  


-- 
===
Matthew S. Bramble
President and