Security Basics mailing list archives

How to do rDNS. WAS: RE: educating rDNS violators


From: "Ferino Mardo" <RMardo () ALJOMAIHBEV com>
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2004 09:26:16 +0300


This is a nice read. Just like to ask how does one implement rDNS from
the mail server? Or is it done from the DNS server?



-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Olave [mailto:chrisfocus () saber net] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2004 6:21 AM
To: SMiller () unimin com; security-basics () securityfocus com
Subject: Re: educating rDNS violators


Our previous mail server setup included refusing all messages 
coming from non-resolvable IP addresses.  We had toyed with 
the idea of imposing a full DNS check (forward to reverse 
matching reverse to forward), however we decided that it 
refused too much potentially-legit mail, we only allowed it 
for about a half hour.

We had the rDNS requirement imposed for about two years and 
never had a problem with it.  Friends and family emailing our 
customers would get a customized refusal saying "hostname 
lookup failed"; they seemlessly would forward it on to their 
provider who would eventually fix the problem.  We imposed 
this restriction and noticed a fair amount of junkmail 
missing from our inboxes the next morning.

Another way to catch a fair amount of spam is to require that 
the "From:" addresses on messages be MX-able.  This will only 
catch the small bit of spam that hasn't caught up to the rest 
of the world (using fake domains). Newer spam methods include 
using a fake address "@yourdomain.com"; you could write a 
ruleset that will check to see if the "From:" is a valid 
local user (only if it's a local domain, obviously) and 
refuse to deliver the message based on the "From:" not being 
a true local user.  This will catch a fair amount of spam as well.

Have you looked into using services such as the MAPS RBL, DUL 
or other lists?  We used these for a while and they seem to 
catch a good amount, but not nearly enough spam.

We eventually decided to go with a "middle-man" mail filter.  
We pointed our MX records to the filter then the filter would 
forward mail to our SMTP server.  Then we had the problem of 
spammers directly delivering mail to our server (ignoring 
MX).  Then we had to impose restrictions for our mail filter 
to be "OK" to deliver mail but no one else.  We are soon 
going to be changing our refusal message from "Access denied" 
to "Please honor our MX records and we'll accept your mail."

Our customers have not voiced any kind of displeasure.  If 
they do, we will simply have to tell them the remote end 
needs to honor our MX records; servers not abiding by it are 
not abiding by SMTP protocol in which case there's probably a 
reason they are trying to bypass the filter.


Good luck!

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <SMiller () unimin com>
To: <security-basics () securityfocus com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 2:49 PM
Subject: educating rDNS violators


Our mail administration group recently implemented blocking of all
incoming
messages from domains that cannot be resolved via reverseDNS, for 
purposes of spam prevention.  Of course, there are quite a 
number of 
legitimate business contacts who do not have rDNS properly 
configured.  
Assuming that the rDNS criterion remains, the question 
becomes one of 
who will notify and/or educate the sender(s) about this issue.  The 
only time-efficient
way
that I can think of to do this would be to have instructions and
references
in the body of the bounce message itself.  Anyone tried that?  
Results? Other suggestions?  Thanks in advance.

Scott



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Computer Forensics Training at the InfoSec Institute. All of our class
sizes are guaranteed to be 12 students or less to facilitate one-on-one
interaction with one of our expert instructors. Gain the in-demand
skills of a certified computer examiner, learn to recover trace data
left behind by fraud, theft, and cybercrime perpetrators. Discover the
source of computer crime and abuse so that it never happens again.

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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Forensics Training at the InfoSec Institute. All of our class sizes
are guaranteed to be 12 students or less to facilitate one-on-one
interaction with one of our expert instructors. Gain the in-demand skills of
a certified computer examiner, learn to recover trace data left behind by
fraud, theft, and cybercrime perpetrators. Discover the source of computer
crime and abuse so that it never happens again.

http://www.infosecinstitute.com/courses/computer_forensics_training.html
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