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Date:      Thu, 27 Mar 1997 23:12:21 -0800
From:      Sean Eric Fagan <sef@Kithrup.COM>
To:        chat@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: SPAM -- Aren't you the person....? (fwd) 
Message-ID:  <199703280712.XAA02532@kithrup.com>
In-Reply-To: <199703280450.XAA25347.kithrup.freebsd.chat@goffette.research.megasoft.com>
References:  <Pine.BSI.3.95.970324204319.9996C-100000@python.shoal.net.au> <27919.859223994@time.cdrom.com>

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In article <199703280450.XAA25347.kithrup.freebsd.chat@goffette.research.megasoft.com> you write:
>Jordan> I suggest firing off angry letters to the various ISPs
>Jordan> involved whenever this happens (I do).
>Me too...
>
>Here's a form letter that I have...

There are several things you can do, in addition.

1.  Install and use procmail; I have it as my local mailer.  Then I have a
.procmailrc that has lines like:

	:0:
	* ^.*207.147.201.46
	|/usr/bin/mail worldnet.att.net@abuse.net

	:0:
	* ^From:.*jjcp@micron.net
	|$HOME/bin/bounce micron.net@abuse.net

	:0:
	* ^Received:.*sallynet.com
	|/usr/bin/mail policy@access.digex.net

2.  Net/2 and later have a nice "reject" feature for 'route'.  So you can do
things like:

	echo -n 'Adding route black holes: '
	echo -n 'Cyberpromo' ; route add -net 205.199.212.0 127.0.0.1 -reject
	echo -n 'SallyNet' ; route add -net 207.238.142.0 127.0.0.1 -reject
	echo -n 'Earthlink' ; route add -net 204.119.177.0 127.0.0.1 -reject

(that's in my /etc/rc.local).

netstat -r shows:

Routing tables
Destination      Gateway            Flags     Refs     Use  IfaceMTU    Rtt   
204.119.177      localhost          UGR         0        1  lo0 -      -     
ispam            localhost          UGR         0       25  lo0 -      -     
sallynet         localhost          UGR         0      380  lo0 -      -     

Note that the 'ispam' (cyberpromotions) has a use of 25 -- one is from me (I
did a traceroute without realizing what it was); the others are because they
sent out a massive email spam last night.  It never got to me, because, for
a variety of reasons, CP doesn't use a mail transport agent, they have a
program that connects directly to a machine's SMTP port.  (sallynet did
manage to get through, because of my various MX holders, only one of which I
control. *sigh*)

3.  Disable mail relaying in sendmail.  See
http://www.sendmail.org/antispam.html.

4.  Lastly, learn who to complain to, and about.  Complaining to AGIS about
Cyber Promotions will do no good -- AGIS does not care.  Complaining to
Sprint is sometimes effective, but very slowly; same with MCI.  Netcom and
AOL have very good responses.  But learn to tell *where* a message really
comes from.  And never, never, never mailbomb or otherwise try to flood an
apparant spammer!

(Uh, yeah, this occupies a bit of my time.  I cancelled over 600 usenet
posts today, sent out four complaints about email spam, and spent 15 minutes
on the phone with an ISP in florida to tell them about the idiot who was
posting the 600 posts that I was cancelling. *sigh*)

Sean.



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