Linux Gazette: Stopping Spam on Your Linux Box
May 12, 2001, 21 :00 UTC (0 Talkback[s]) (6860 reads) (Other stories by Suresh Ramasubramanian)
Spam's no good and it seems to drive even level-headed people crazy once they find themselves the target of enough of it. This article spells out how to handle spam better, from basic preventative tasks to more complex configuration of your MTA and procmail.
If you have an e-mail account, you are bo doubt getting mail that you have not asked for, and do not want in your inbox - unsolicited e-mail (aka spam). What's Spam? In 3D "meatspace", it is a luncheon meat manufactured by Hormel Corp (which also owns http://www.spam.com). Spam on the net though is unsolicited e-mail, unwanted e-mail, frequently sent in bulk and advertising some commercial proposition. Most of the Spam you probably get, and what this article deals with, is UC/BE (Unsolicited Commercial and/or Bulk E-Mail).
If you have a linux (or *nix) box, you have a set of powerful tools to stop all this spam from cluttering your inbox. These tools are even more useful to you if you run a production mailserver and want to stop spam from reaching your users.
The three cardinal rules of spamfighting are:
Prevention is better than cure. Armor yourself against spam.
Filter Spam before it reaches your mailbox
Complain to the spammer's ISP and get him shut down
