HOME > CHAPTER 16

Chapter 16; Building an Anti-Spam Gateway

Many email administrators are happy with the operation of their email server, but still want to add spam filtering. If the current email server is running Windows, then integrating SpamAssassin into Microsoft Exchange Server is difficult and perceived as risky. This is because it may be difficult to revert to the old settings due to the way in which some settings are changed. Whatever the platform, email administrators who lack formal training or do not devote a considerable amount of their time to system administration might lack the confidence to alter the configuration of a running email server.

One safe solution is to use a separate email gateway. The gateway receives all incoming email, SpamAssassin identifies and tags spam, and then emails are forwarded to the original email server. The gateway can additionally provide spam filtering, if desired, and forward spam to a different account or simply delete it. The configuration of the existing server need not be modified at all, and if a corporate firewall is in use, the email gateway can be switched on or off as required by using firewall rules.

This chapter describes how to create and configure an email gateway. For all major Linux distributions, Postfix is either the default MTA or can be chosen as the MTA when Linux is installed. For simplicity, this chapter deals only with Postfix although other MTAs can be used for this task.

These are the steps that should be followed to build a Spam Gateway from scratch:

1.        Choose a PC platform.
2.        Choose a Linux distribution.
3.        Install Linux.
4.        Configure the Postfix MTA.
5.        Install SpamAssassin—follow the instructions in Chapter 6.
6.        Install Amavisd-new.
7.        Perform additional configuration.
8.        Test the configuration.
9.        Switch to live use.

BOOK DETAILS   Paperback, 220 pages Released: Sept 2004 ISBN: 1904811124 Author: Alistair McDonald

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Intro
1. Introducing Spam
2. Spam and Anti-Spam Techniques
3. Open Relays
4. Protecting Email Addresses
5. Detecting Spam
6. Installing SpamAssassin
7. Configuration Files
8. Using SpamAssassin
9. Bayesian Filtering
10. Look and Feel
11. Network Tests
12. Rules
13. Improving Filtering
14. Performance
15. Housekeeping and Reporting
16. Building an Anti-Spam Gateway
17. Email Clients
18. Choosing other Spam Tools
Appendix A
Index
 

View the book details on PacktPub.com