E-mail abuse

(Incomplete draft page)

Unsolicited Bulk E-mail

UBE is the abuse to which the name "spam" is appropriate. Its current source is usually botnets, operated as a business and made available to criminals and others who wish to remain largely hidden in the Internet.

It is a threat to your network

1. when insecure computers in your network have been taken into botnets and are being misused in this way;
2. when the volume of unwanted traffic at your e-mail servers, and the number of unwanted messages your users receive, become large.

You must do everything you can to avoid emitting UBE from your network. Links on this page refer to General protection of your computers and monitoring should ensure that they do not offer resources to botnets; but consider also the effect of misdirected bounce messages and local policies on the nature and quality of bulk e-mail that your organisation sends deliberately for marketing or similar purposes. Links on this page refer to some of those issues:

• Good behaviour in your network

Attempts to send bulk mail into your network are largely beyond your control, but there is a large industry dedicated to defensive measures after the event:

• DNSBLs
• Filtering appliances
• Filtering software
• User-level responses

• Junk mail in JANET; mostly older advice
• Avoid inappropriate e-mail bounces.
• Guidance on e-mail campaigns.

E-mail viruses

Mail system configuration errors