Ed,
I'm glad to see a more proactive approach to fighting spam,
quite a change from the way it was at MSU just a few years ago.
I very much agree that the benefits outweigh the side effects,
and hope all goes smoothly.
Regards,
-Russell
> -----Original Message-----
> From: MSU Network Administrators Group
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Edward R Kryda
> Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 1:12 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [MSUNAG] New spam-fighting technique for
> mail.msu.edu going to DDC mailing list
>
> Thanks for the input Russell,
>
> The techbase page,
> http://techbase.msu.edu/viewpathfinder.asp?id=7772, has been
> updated to provide a clearer and more accurate response. The
> particular question, now reads:
>
> "
> Will greylisting block valid email messages?
>
> Greylisting will eventually allow all mail servers that
> follow internet
> standards for resending messages to process normally. However, some
> legitimate mail systems don't follow these standards.
> Identified legitimate
> sources of email can be added to an exception list.
> "
>
> Its true that some email services will have issues with
> greylisting, and we
> will be monitoring the system to try and help identify those
> issues. The
> Help Desk will also be working with our team to help users
> that are having
> email delivery issues.
>
> Work has been done to help identify some of the major servers
> that will have
> issues with greylisting, which have been added to our
> exception list. Its
> not a perfect solution, but its my belief that the benefits
> outweigh the
> minimal side effects.
>
> -Ed
>
> Russell J. Lahti writes:
>
> > I can't tell you how many broken MTA's there are out there
> > that will not handle a TEMPFAIL correctly, and junk the mail
> > instead of queuing it for later delivery attempts. While I
> > definitely don't have much sympathy for the people running
> > these non-RFC compliant systems, they definitely are out there,
> > and answering the question of:
> >
> > Will greylisting block valid email messages?
> >
> > With the response:
> >
> > No. Greylisting will eventually allow all valid mail servers
> > that resend messages to mail.msu.edu to process normally.
> >
> > is a slight bit misleading. There is a definite chance that
> > what an end user might consider legitimate mail might be lost
> > by implementing greylisting. While a vast majority will work
> > normally, some will likely not. For example, web apps that
> > have been developed to emulate an SMTP conversation instead
> > of dumping the mail to an MTA queue for delivery, etc.
> >
> > I'd be interested in what others have run across in their
> > greylisting endeavors. The few times that I have seen it
> > implemented I have also seen it removed.
> >
> > -Russell
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: MSU Network Administrators Group
> >> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Edward R Kryda
> >> Sent: Friday, March 02, 2007 2:14 PM
> >> To: [log in to unmask]
> >> Subject: [MSUNAG] New spam-fighting technique for
> >> mail.msu.edu going to DDC mailing list
> >>
> >> NAG has asked that we give a heads-up when we send mailings
> >> related to computing at MSU to MSU's Deans, Directors, and
> >> Chairs (DDC) list.
> >> The following mailing from Tom Davis, director of ACNS, will
> >> go to DDC soon.
> >>
> >> Edward Kryda
> >> Email Team Leader
> >> mail.msu.edu
> >>
> >> ==============================================================
> >> =========
> >> To: Deans, Directors, and Chairs
> >> Subject: New spam-fighting technique for mail.msu.edu
> >>
> >> Unsolicited commercial e-mail, or spam, annoys us all and
> >> inhibits our productivity. Industry experts estimate that at
> >> least 80% of all Internet e-mail is now spam. Mail.msu.edu
> >> processes up to four million messages per day, blocking about
> >> half as spam.
> >>
> >> To combat this problem, the ACNS mail team will add a new
> >> feature to mail.msu.edu on March 7, a technique called
> >> "greylisting." Rather than attempting to identify spam based
> >> on the content of the message, greylisting blocks spam based
> >> on the behavior of the remote e-mail server.
> >>
> >> When first installed, greylisting will introduce a temporary
> >> delay in the receipt of incoming e-mail (as it "learns" which
> >> remote e-mail servers can be trusted). Delays will be as
> >> little as 5 minutes to as much as a few hours, depending on
> >> the configuration of the sender's e-mail server. These
> >> delays will fade within a day or so.
> >>
> >> Greylisting is another tool to fight the scourge of spam. Our
> >> existing spam techniques have strained our mail servers and
> >> introduced e-mail delays due to the sheer volume of messages
> >> being processed. We expect the implementation of greylisting
> >> to improve this situation.
> >>
> >> The ACNS mail team will carefully monitor the performance of
> >> this new procedure. If you note any problems or have
> >> questions, contact the ACNS Help Desk at (517) 432-6200. For
> >> more information, please visit:
> >> http://techbase.msu.edu/viewpathfinder.asp?id=7772&service=help
> >>
> >> Tom Davis, Director
> >> Academic Computing and Network Services
> >>
> >
>
>
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