[lug] Getting mail out of the Qwest/MSN mire

[Bear Giles]

Sean Reifschneider wrote:

>It was a very tough decision, especially for me.  I come from the old days
>when you *NEVER* got anything but legitimate mail.  You know that part in
>the RFCs for e-mail about how an MTA must never drop e-mail?  We took that
>very seriously back in the '80s.  Today, if your mail server doesn't drop
>worms/viruses, it's part of the problem, not the solution...  Sending a
>bounce on a virus is bad form.
>  
>
That's why I, ironically, don't filter content.  I'll do some technical 
checks(*) on the envelope and headers and refuse the message if it 
fails.  But if I accept it, it's going to the appropriate folder.  That 
way there are no bounce messages, just error messages handled (or not) 
by the previous hop.

I'll be the first to admit that that's a luxury, one that will end when 
email viruses start targetting Linux and/or Thunderbird.

(*) I suspect the best single thing you can do is add a HELO check that 
drops any message purporting to come from your own domain or IP 
address.  It's quick, it's cheap, and there is absolutely no legitimate 
reason for somebody to impersonate the receiving node.