Updated MyDoom targets Google--again

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But....

I'm convinced that SMTP servers should be required to scan all outgoing mail using current virus technology. If the server does not identify itself as a self-scanning system, then all other servers should reject traffic from it...period.

There are two BIG problems with that.

1.) The first problem lies in the fact that SMTP technology is NOT limited to ISPs. ANYONE with an internet connection can download, install, configure his/her own SMTP/POP3 server. There are an awful LOT of apps out there with those capabilities. Many of them are even free and come in all flavors for both Linux and Windows machines. These SMTP apps don't HAVE to route outbound e-mail through the ISP's server - unless the e-mail is being sent to someone on the same domain. They can send e-mail DIRECTLY to the destination server.

2.) The second - and more critical issue - MANY of the viruses out there today have their own built in SMTP functionality - thus bypassing the ISP's SMTP servers entirely. You can have THE finest possible Antivirus scanners working on the ISP's SMTP servers, but if the e-mail isn't routed through them, then it's not going to catch anything. This is why e-mail scanning is usually relegated to the POP3 side of the equation...

The only way to make things work would be to force ISPs to monitor activities on port 25 for all of their clients for 'excessive' quantities of outbound e-mail.

But this opens yet another can of worms... Do we really, REALLY want our ISP's spying on our e-mail? And who's to say what's 'excessive'?

Is that new flurry of outbound mail a virus or is it legit business - i.e. a wedding/birth/party announcement? An updated resume to prospective employers? Or a really funny off color joke that had you ROFLMAO-PIP that you couldn't resist sharing with 50 or 60 of your closest e-mail buddies? Or maybe even photos from your latest African safari? Or maybe it's some work-at-home mom's monthly newsletter to her clientelle.

Then there's the question of how much extra it would cost an ISP to actually DO that level of monitoring... How much is the new hardware that'll monitor their clients is going to cost and how much extra it will cost them in terms of labor.

There's no clear cut and simple and fair solution to this problem.

Posted by: Wolfie2K3   Posted on: 02/17/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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