New Guidelines Introduced To Reduce Email Spam
If Internet service providers take heed of new guidelines published Friday, you could be seeing less spam in your inbox.Â
The Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) recommends ISPs use separate servers for received and forwarded e-mails, and that they block port 25, through which spam travels.
If a majority of ISPs follow the guidelines, experts say it is still unlikely email users will see drastic change in spam. Its estimated more than 90% of all e-mail is spam.
"Some ISPs will always remain wide open even if we succeed in closing port 25," said Matt Sergeant, a senior anti-spam technologist with security firm MessageLabs.
"But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth doing. If we don’t do it spam volumes will increase," he said.
Richard Cox from UK anti-spam group Spamhaus believes the recommended guidelines could be implemented within the year.
"These are very significant recommendations and they are coming from a well-respected body so there is not much excuse for not following them," he said.
MAAWG’s recommendations call for a separation between original e-mails and those that are forwarded on.
"When mail is forwarded it is often the case that spam and viruses are also forwarded," said Mr. Sergeant of MessageLabs.
Making a change will stop those sending e-mail from being associated with spam.
"It will give recipients the ability to recognize spam and reject it," Mr. Cox added.
MAAWG also addressed the second issue of so-called botnets. Botnets are defined as networks of computers that have been taken over by hackers. They use botnets to send malicious software and spam.
MessageLabs estimates botnets are responsible for more than 90% of spam.
Mr. Cox said, the theory of blocking port 25 is not a new one but it will gain new ground since MAAWG officially outlined it.
A number of ISPs based in the US are already beginning to block port 25. Historically, the majority of spam originates in America.
Others say trying to outsmart spammers will not work. They’re bound to stay ahead of the attempts to limit their influence.
"They will have fewer ISPs to use but they will simply develop faster engines," he said.
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