Spammers Increasingly Sending Spam Via ISP Servers

Recent reports indicate that spammers are increasingly sending spam via ISP's mail servers instead of their own systems.

This can make blocking the spammers using blacklists more difficult. SMTP blacklists can work for individual servers, or entire networks. When a system administrator sets up their incoming mail server's spam filter program to follow a blacklist, email from the specified addresses is bounced.

Different blacklists have varying standards for inclusion. Some are based on a network containing unsecured servers, while others are based on user reported spam. Some blacklists contain large portions of the internet which are associated with junk email. Most are more tightly focused - containing only confirmed senders of spam.

Blacklists can also be used by client-side spam e-mail blocker software. Some applications even use multiple blacklists to determine which messages should be deleted.

The problem arises when spammers use a major ISP's servers to send spam on their behalf. If the administrator of the blacklist doesn't add the servers to the list - spam gets through. If they do - a lot of wanted email could get blocked by spam protection software.

This is not a new problem - but it may be compounded by spammers shifting techniques. The question always comes down to a tradeoff between missing legitimate email, and blocking spam.

It also puts the responsibility to take basic steps to deploy antispam tools on the shoulders of the ISP's. If they fail to, they could find that their user's email doesn't go anyplace.

SpamButcher is powerful junk mail stopping software. It is available as a no-cost antispam download for use as a 21-day trial.

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