Users of the open-source mail package should now be able to reduce their spam levels. Sendmail on Monday released the first implementation of a mail filter that uses Sender ID, an anti-spam technology currently being considered by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). . . .
Sendmail on Monday released the first implementation of a mail filter that uses Sender ID, an anti-spam technology currently being considered by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Sender ID is a combination of the earlier Sender Policy Framework (SPF), invented by Meng Wong of pobox.com, and Microsoft's Caller ID proposal. The system aims to reducing the quantity of spam emails sent across the Internet by checking who they claim to be from.

The plug-in mail filter, or "milter" in Sendmail jargon, works with the open source and commercial versions of Sendmail, but is still considered pre-release software at this stage.

"Sendmail's Sender ID milter is a major weapon in the war on spam," said Meng Wong in a statement.

"Now, system administrators everywhere can evaluate this promising new technology themselves and easily adapt it to their needs," Wong added.

Sender ID uses records in the Domain Name System (DNS) to authenticate the sender of an email message. Most spam and messages sent by viruses use spoofed sender email addresses, making it more difficult to trace where they're sent from. With Sender ID, you can tell which messages come from forged addresses and reject them, often before the message body is sent. While this won't stop spam entirely, it will make life more difficult for mass-mailers, and as part of a series of measures may see our inboxes get less junk mail.

The link for this article located at Jonathan Bennett, ZDNet UK is no longer available.