IBM AH0QXML User Guide - Page 14

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Lotus Domino 6 spam Survival Guide for IBM eServer

1.1

Definition of spam

What is

spam

? How do you know if you have been spammed? In a very broad

sense, spam is the reception of unsolicited commercial e-mail. That does not

mean that if you receive an unexpected e-mail from a friend that you have been

spammed.

Spam is designed to flood the Internet with mass mailings, attempting to reach

the largest audience possible. Most often spammers are merely trying to sell a

dubious product, such as diplomas to unaccredited universities, get-rich-quick

schemes, or discounts on prescription drugs. In a real world example, spam is

the equivalent of receiving flyers, mailers, contest entries, and other such junk

mail items routinely sent to thousands of households without the residents having

explicitly requested them. The difference, for the average spammer, is not having

to pay printing fees or postage, which makes spam infinitely less expensive than

traditional junk mail.

A very important aspect of what constitutes spam is that spam has negative

effects on those who receive it. Spam is the only form of advertising that is more

expensive for its audience than for the advertiser. It is not simply a case of getting

a few extra mail messages a day and taking a minute or two to delete them.

Spam is not targeted at any specific group or person. It is sent to everyone.

Therefore, it can be a very expensive nuisance. Consider the fact that service

providers charge for time spent accessing the Internet. If you receive five spam

messages a day, you will waste a minute or two deleting the messages. But what

if you received 50 messages a day, or 100? What if everyone in your company

received 50 messages a day? And without even considering the loss in man

hours, what about storage costs?

Advertisers pay very small sums of money to acquire huge spamming lists and

lists of e-mail addresses. These lists are gathered from various sources, often

with questionable methods, and sold to anyone who wishes to send out spam.

Advertisers then use these lists for spamming, trying to reach the broadest

audience possible.

1.2

Categorizing spam

Spam generally falls into one of 6 categories:

±

Advertisers trying to sell a product or service to as large an audience as

possible.

±

Mailings designed to cheat or mislead unsuspecting or gullible Internet mail

recipients with incredible get-rich-quick schemes.

Section	Page
Front cover	1
Contents	5
Notices	7
Trademarks	8
Preface	9
The team that wrote this redbook	9
Become a published author	11
Comments welcome	12
Chapter 1. Introduction	13
1.1 Definition of spam	14
1.2 Categorizing spam	14
Chapter 2. Preventing unwanted e-mail and spam	19
2.1 Spam avoidance techniques	20
2.1.1 Passive harvesting attacks	20
2.1.2 Avoiding harvesting	21
2.1.3 Confusing the harvesters	22
2.1.4 Inform Users	22
2.2 How to block spam	24
2.2.1 At the gateway	25
2.2.2 At the server	25
2.2.3 By the end user	26
2.2.4 Selecting the best approach	26
2.2.5 Managing the ongoing anti-spam campaign	27
2.2.6 Summary	28
Chapter 3. Domino 6 anti-spam architecture	29
3.1 The Domino messaging environment	30
3.2 Domino 6 messaging components	32
3.2.1 SMTP Listener/Server	33
3.2.2 Router	35
3.3 Domino 6 anti-spam configuration	35
3.3.1 Server configuration features	36
3.3.2 User configuration features	37
3.4 Common problems and solutions	37
Chapter 4. Domino 6 Server anti-spam features	41
4.1 How to detect spam	42
4.1.1 Examining the message properties	42
4.1.2 Separating legitimate e-mail from spam based on content	43
4.2 Controlling connections from spammers	44
4.2.1 DNS Blacklist filters	44
4.2.2 Inbound Intended Recipients Controls	48
4.2.3 Disable routing mail to groups	51
4.2.4 Inbound connection controls	53
4.2.5 Inbound sender controls	54
4.3 Controlling delivery of spam	57
4.3.1 Server mail rules	57
4.4 Controlling use of your server as a relay	66
4.4.1 Inbound relay controls	66
4.4.2 Inbound relay enforcement	71
4.5 Protecting your Domino server from active address harvesting attacks	74
4.5.1 SMTP harvesting attacks	74
4.5.2 Spam mail bombing	74
4.5.3 Direct SMTP RCPT TO harvesting	74
4.5.4 Defending against active attacks	75
Chapter 5. Using mail file rules to prevent spam	77
5.1 Distinguishing between spam and legitimate e-mail	78
5.2 Mail file rules	80
5.2.1 Setting up mail file rules	80
5.2.2 Developing anti-spam mail file rules	83
5.2.3 Viewing mail rules and the evaluation sequence	89
5.2.4 Monitoring mail file rules	90
Chapter 6. Third party anti-spam products	93
6.1 Anti-spam products for Notes and Domino	94
6.1.1 spamJam for Lotus Notes and Domino	94
6.1.2 SpamEraser for Lotus Notes and Domino 6	97
6.1.3 iQ.Suite	100
6.1.4 ScanMail for Lotus Notes with eManager	101
6.1.5 XM SpamStop	104
6.1.6 Other anti-spam products for Notes and Domino	106
6.2 Anti-spam server and gateway products and services	106
6.2.1 BrightMail Anti-Spam 4.0 from BrightMail, Inc.	106
6.2.2 ActiveState PureMessage	107
6.2.3 Trend Micro Inc. products	109
6.2.4 Other anti-spam server or gateway products and services	110
Related publications	111
IBM Redbooks	111
Referenced Web sites	111
How to get IBM Redbooks	112
IBM Redbooks collections	112
Index	113

IBM AH0QXML User Guide - Page 14

Definition of spam, 1.2 Categorizing spam, if you received 50 messages a day

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