Paul Saunders said:I've had to set the expiry date on my own blacklist to just
1 day now because it was getting so big it was taking
Mailwasher many minutes to load and would frequently crash.
Actually, no bad thing - most spam has a deliberately false
address so there's no advantage in blacklisting
By the same token, most viruses nowadays spoof the address
so it is difficult to determine its source. However, the
email header will contain the originating IP address as well
as email generator. Quite often you *can* work out the
origin, tho' in my experience letting the person know rarely
gets acknowledged (suspect either email is deleted as
suspect or person is embarrassed!). Did receive thanks a
week ago for one series of attacks!
I have 6 email addresses, used for various aspects from very
private, through commercial to public. 95% of my spam comes
to a particular address (no, not this one - it's from using
a news service across the pond). 85% of spam originates in
East Europe or Far East - emphatically in that order (from
looking at posting time to arrival time).
95% of my viruses come to my very private address (again,
not this one)
Yes, some ISPs are taking action including, sadly, mine
(NTL). They decided I must have an infection (and shunting
me into a quarantine area - no email or website access) and
it took 20 mins of arguing with them to convince them I was
OK. This is with me insisting that my antivirus was working
100%, with current definitions, and that my XP box was
patched up to date. My concern is that, despite *knowing*
that I was clean and being able to give technical responses
to technical question, they *still* weren't entirely
convinced. Pity the guy who doesn't know all the answers!
And I still haven't resolved how I got singled out - "You
must have a virus" was the support mantra.
These support guys know little/nothing beyond what's typed
on the paper in front of them (which usually reads: "Blame
the customer and tell them its all their fault"😉. This is
the second time I've used support and the 2nd time they've
been hopeless! Last time I insisted that my lack of
connection was due to low gain on the line - it took over a
day to convince them to take a look, even, let alone do
something about it. And guess what the solution was? Low
gain on the line!!
Apologies for going on for so long, especially in URW!!
Mark
Mark Cavendish Cardiff, Wales
