We've had a rash of Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (AKA spam) on these
lists in the past day--and I got a set in my personal mailbox, so it
looks like spammers are harvesting the addresses of list contributors,
too.
I've taken the immediate steps of (1) complaining to the responsible
parties, and (2) blocking further mail to the list from the same
addresses. These might help, but they're not guaranteed, and they
won't stop other spammers.
A more effective and general counterspam measure I'm considering is
requiring all messages to the list to contain a keyword in the
subject. If a message doesn't contain the keyword, a generic
autoresponse will include a list of possible reasons and a pointer to
the list policy document. The keyword will be advertised on the list
and published in the policy document. The keyword will be stripped
from the subject header before the message is sent to the list.
This method isn't foolproof--spammers could include the keyword
too--but it makes it a little harder to spam the list. Unfortunately,
it also makes it a little harder for people to use the list. I could
go either way, so I'm asking for your opinion.
If you think this is unnecessary, premature, or an undue burden, send
a message to:
de5-vote-spam-no_at_sws5.ctd.ornl.gov
If you support this proposal and want it implemented immediately, send
a message to:
de5-vote-spam-yes_at_sws5.ctd.ornl.gov
Feel free to include any comments in your message or leave it blank
to simply register your vote.
Dave Sill
ORNL mailing list server adminstrator
Received on Tue Dec 16 1997 - 15:44:35 NZDT