I don't have an SPF record because I refuse to support a broken
technology. SPF breaks email forwarding. My users use forwarding. SMTP
is broken - but I can't change that. I have to be compatible with the
rest of the world.
Gino Cerullo wrote:
Whether it's SPF, DKIM, a combination of both or something completely
new, the laissez-faire attitude of the past toward SMTP just doesn't
cut it anymore. Criminals (and yes, I consider anyone who forges an
identity to hide who they are a criminal no matter their intent) have
taken advantage of the loose way in which SMTP was and still is
implemented and they are causing considerable damage. If a few 'eggs'
have to be broken on the way to securing our email systems than so-be-it.
I agree with Michael Scheidell, "SMTP is broken. has been, phishing,
forgeries, email viruses prove it."
To make a statement like "SPF breaks email forwarding" and not offer
an alternative merely makes you come off as a troll with an agenda.
Now, I know from your contributions here that you are neither a troll
or have an ulterior motive with such a statement but at the same time
I can't even trust that the original email came from Marc Perkel
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
As it stands, I can't trust the integrity of your domain 'perkel.com'
since it does not have an SPF record. Anyone can claim to be you, even
a troll. Now, you might say that s/mime could be the answer to that
and you'd be correct but s/mime is expensive. Expensive in computer
resources because it means that my server still has to receive every
email, process it through virus and spam filters and then pass it on
to me where what remains still has to be evaluated by me or my MUA.
The idea behind SPF and its contemporaries is that obvious forgeries
are handled by the MTA before entering the system for further
evaluation, taking a huge load off the infrastructure we've been
forced to put in place to deal with a system that is clearly, at
present, broken.
Personally, I think SPF, DKIM and any other workable proposal goes
beyond just protecting me from spam, phishing and email viruses. It
protects the integrity of my domains and further, the IP addresses in
my control since I insist that all the domains I host on my server all
have SPF records. People can trust that an email message claiming to
come from one of my domains or from one of my IP addresses does in
fact originate there.
Thanks
--
Gino Cerullo
Pixel Point Studios
21 Chesham Drive
Toronto, ON M3M 1W6
T: 416-247-7740
F: 416-247-7503
