2008-07-01
Abstract
MAAWG produces two new sets of ISP best practices.
Copyright © 2008 Virus Bulletin
Two new sets of best practices for ISPs have been issued by the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG), aiming to help block spam sent from botnets and improve the deliverability of consumers' emails.
The first paper, 'MAAWG methods for sharing dynamic IP address space information with others', addresses the issue of blocking botnet spam. MAAWG already recommends that ISPs block traffic from machines on dynamic IP addresses that send email on port 25 (which is likely to be botnet spam) but, since this is not a viable solution for all ISPs, the new paper provides alternative recommendations. The paper describes various ways in which ISPs can share their dynamic space information among one another, thus allowing them the opportunity to reject mail traffic from dynamic address space.
The second paper, 'MAAWG recommendations: email forwarding best practices', proposes methods to help distinguish legitimate customers using a mail forwarding facility from spammers. Many email users have their mail forwarded from one address to another. However, as these addresses receive and forward spam as well as legitimate mail, it is possible for the user’s ISP to treat the forwarding service as a spam source and block all incoming mail from it. The MAAWG paper sets out a number of best practices that can be adopted by volume forwarders and the receivers of forwarded mail that will help ensure legitimate mail is delivered. Both papers are available from http://www.maawg.org/.
