ACTION REQUIRED BY USERS/RESELLERS BY MAY 31st 2006! FAILURE TO TAKE ACTION MAY RESULT IN LOSS OF EMAIL/SERVICE
Hi,
This is an important message for all users!
In an effort to reduce the amount of spam being received by many users, that is slipping through our existing spam detection systems we are employing a new dictionary style attack blocker. This is already installed on one server and we anticipate rolling out to all servers within 7 days.
Quick Info:
For those that just want the cold hard facts and not the reasoning behind it.
The action required is simple:
- Create POP3 Accounts or Forwarders for the e-mail addresses you need.
- Set your default email address in cPanel to :fail: (using a catch-all style address for your domain will no longer be allowed).
- Once the above is done only mail addressed to your main cPanel username, and the email addresses/forwarders you create will be delivered, all other email will be returned to sender.
More Details…
A common technique for spammers to use is what is known as a dictionary attack on a domain. A dictionary attack, in this context, is when a single mail connection that attempts to send email from a spam source to a random set of names on our domain, e.g. bob@ourdomain.com fred@ourdomain.com harry@ourdomain.com, in the hope that one of the many hundreds that they try will get a hit and deliver our spam.
This technique is used by spammers mainly because most people don’t advertise their email addresses (due to spam!) and they want to access this untapped market!
What are we doing about this?
The new system we are employing will attempt to detect and block this kind of spam, when a number of rejections is noticed by the script (hence the need for mail not addressed to a valid user to be rejected and not just delivered to a catch all address), the connection from the offending mail server will then be blocked and banned by our system.
If you have any further questions do not hesitate to get in touch!
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