[Top] [Prev] [Next] [Bottom]




Anti-relay


Mail relay is a technique whereby SMTP servers act as mail routers, to redistribute mail around the Internet. Mail passing through the relay is examined to determine it's destination, and is either passed on to the next relay in the chain or to the destination mail server for delivery.

This technique is commonly used to redistribute `spam' mail, that is, unwanted or junk mail which is often sent by an originator to many recipients simultaneously. Examples of spam mail may include mailing lists, get rich quick pyramid schemes, or for the purpose of advertising. By making use of mail relaying to redistribute their own messages in this way it can appear that the spam message originated from the relaying server, rather than the actual spam originator; a technique known as mail spoofing.

Whilst the source of a spam mail is often hard to trace - particularly where mail spoofing has been employed, there are measures which can be adopted in an attempt to prevent this occurring.

MAILsweeper for SMTP provides the following measures to counteract the misuse of mail relay, in the context of spamming and spoofing. It can:

For more details on how to block mail from known hosts, or restrict access to your SMTP server, see page 2-61.

MAILsweeper can also be configured to:
 


[Top] [Prev] [Next] [Bottom]



msw.support@mimesweeper.com

Copyright © 1998, Content Technologies Limited. All rights reserved.