dan slimmon19h ago

There's this myth that automated spam detection is hard because spammers are all very clever masters of disguise.

No. Spammers are stupid as a shoe. They have dog shit for brains.

Automated spam detection is hard because the line between spam and "legitimate" marketing activity is a fiction.

Show threadAndrew Zonenberg
@danslimmon just block all legitimate marketing emails problem solved
4:12amWeb
Show threadMarjorieR11h ago
@azonenberg @danslimmon most spam I get is badly formatted and gets rejected by postfix even before my spam filter gets to see it. The most common fail is no reverse DNS.
And my spam filters then rejects most of the rest, they don't even get into my spam folders.
So most of the marketing emails I get to see are from companies I have bought from in the past and I've decided I want to see when they are running sales: useful for items I regularly buy such as bike brake pads.
Show threadJ. R. DePriest    :EA DATA. SF:8h ago

@marjolica @azonenberg @danslimmon

If we blocked no reverse DNS, I'm not sure there would be anything left.

Show threadMarjorieR4h ago

@jrdepriest @azonenberg @danslimmon not my experience.
Over the last 4 weeks I rejected 16.3% of emails.
Of that 1.9% were replied 4.7.1 (try again later) and 0.4% were replied 5.7.1 (spam) and ended up in my spam folders to review.

On the other hand 13.4% lacked a reverse hostname. The great majority of those were from China (.cn). Only one was from a (UK) site I have bought from.

Show threadJ. R. DePriest    :EA DATA. SF:3h ago

@marjolica @azonenberg @danslimmon

I imagine if a business is only going to maintain a few reverse lookups anyway, they will prioritize their MX records over the A records. I am used to looking at all the DNS requests and responses, not just those for email.

Show threadShadSterling10h ago
@azonenberg @danslimmon unfortunately, there are, for example, banks who will stop sending you transaction notices if you report their spam as spam
Show thread4censord  :now: at kubecon!1h ago

@ShadSterling @azonenberg @danslimmon then you just report them to your local BaFin* and they will solve that

  • BaFin is the bank oversight ministry where I am.
Show threadShadSterling31m ago
@4censord @azonenberg @danslimmon ok, but first we would have to
1. Fix Congress so it can get anything done
2. Create the first thing ever referred to as a “ministry”
3. Make it possible to pass laws over the objections of lobbyists
4. Pass laws imposing punishments for sending spam and for cutting off useful communication in retaliation for reporting spam
5. Create an enforcement agency that actually works for the people and actually enforces those laws