nanog mailing list archives
Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP
From: "Theodore Ts'o" <tytso () MIT EDU>
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 13:03:59 -0400
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 95 08:13:54 GMT From: "William Allen Simpson" <bsimpson () morningstar com> > As a matter of course, whenever I receive a spam, I will generally send > a complaint to postmaster at the originating site, or perhaps to the > ISP, if I can determine it. In fact, I'm thinking about automating this > procedure, to decrease the amount of time that it takes for me to send > the complaint. I also have a template file which I use to save time. How do you automate finding the postmaster and ISP? I cannot seem to figure it out. Well, I'd only seriously consider bothering the ISP if postmaster () perp site hasn't responded, or if it's obvious that perp.site is a PPP-only site that's connected to an ISP (in which case root () perp site is probably the same as perpetrator () perp site). Figuring out the ISP isn't too hard; you can look at the nameservers for perp.site (especially if it's a PPP-only link, the ISP is probably providing nameservice), or you can use traceroute. The other thing to keep in mind is that in the case of the magazine spam, the e-mail contact address for requested responses was posted. So instead of needing to try to figure out the actual posting address from the forgery, you can also just simply send complaints to postaster () grfn org (looks like the spammers were taking advantage of a freenet site, which also deserved to get flooded with complaints; they had several different accounts on that freenet site). In the case where the perpatrators of the spam leave a 1-800 number as the contact point, you can simply call them up and give them abuse for spamming the internet. Again, if enough people do this it will become economically unfeasible for spammers to continue. (There's an extremely hilarious story going around about someone who posted the 1-800 number alt.sex.* as a phone sex line; the poor company got flooded with lots of calls, which skyrocketed their 1-800 bill and embarassed the heck out of their (mostly female) receptionists. I don't recommend that people try this do, since posting the 1-800 number as a phoen sex number is obviously fraud. But it *is* extremely amusing to hear about it happening.) The hard part of trying to automate it is that there are a lot of hueristics. But it certainly would be possible to build tools that automated at least part of the detective work. - Ted
Current thread:
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP, (continued)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP bcurnow (Oct 15)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Justin Newton (Oct 17)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP George Herbert (Oct 15)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Philip J. Nesser (Oct 15)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Henry W. Miller (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Tim Bass (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP William B. Norton (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Forrest W. Christian (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Tim Bass (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP William Allen Simpson (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Forrest W. Christian (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Theodore Ts'o (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP William Allen Simpson (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Havard . Eidnes (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Vadim Antonov (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP William Allen Simpson (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Jeff . Ogden (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Barry Shein (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Bill Woodcock (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Michael Dillon (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP bmanning (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Catherine Anne Foulston (Oct 16)
- Re: Motion for a new POST NSF AUP Michael Dillon (Oct 16)