SenderID Problems

SenderID is a system designed to validate which domain a message is sent from. It's part of Microsoft's grand vision to end unwanted email.

The system uses a number of different tricks to determine when a message's senders if falsified. The system would probably be deployed in email filter software running on servers.

I'm sure the technology works just fine. The problem is that validating a message's headers aren't hacked isn't enough to stop spam.

A large portion of spam is sent from perfectly legitimate domains, with valid address information.

However, reports indicate that the vast majority of phishing attacks do have bogus header info. Maybe SenderID can cut down on phishing. That is, if it's ever deployed.

It would seem unlikely that everyone in the planet would implement SenderID on their outgoing SMTP servers simultaneously. Servers won't be able to simply filter everything that's questionable. Most likely, they'll end up using the sender info as part of other systems designed for stopping spam email.

My suspicion is that the technology will just never be adopted.

In addition to these issues, Microsoft is having trouble promoting its standard among industry groups. Apparently they want to keep certain portions of the intellectual ownership to themselves. This doesn't sit very well with organizations such as the IETF.

SpamButcher is a powerful spam filter for Outlook or Outlook Express. It can also function with many other common mail programs.

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