[Mailman-i18n] Malicious subscriptions

Mark Sapiro mark at msapiro.net
Sat Jun 28 17:24:43 CEST 2008


Clytie Siddall wrote:
>
>I hope you won't mind me asking this on the i18n list.


A question like this really belongs on the Mailman-Users list, and
followups should go there.


>My daughter's  
>email was subscribed without her knowledge or consent to a Mailman  
>list today. I wrote to the list-owners, but it struck me that there  
>probably isn't much they can do about spam registrations.
>
>All the same, I was annoyed that this had happened (I filter my  
>daughter's mail to protect her), and I think other parents and people  
>whose email addresses are abused in this way won't understand that  
>it's not Mailman's fault.
>
>Is Mailman doing anything to protect itself from spammers?

No list (Mailman or not) is completely safe from spam posts unless it
is fully moderated.

Mailman is just a tool that can be used or abused like any other. If a
site allows only trusted people to create lists and all lists require
subscription confirmation, that site's Mailman lists are pretty safe
from unwanted subscribes.

If you encounter a Mailman list that appears to be set up as a spam
vehicle, the best approach is to contact the abuse and postmaster
addresses at the hosting provider to complain. Of course, if someone
has installed Mailman on his/her own workstation or server, there is
no direct hosting provider, but the mail is still going out through
some service that is either a spammer itself, in which case there's
not much you can do, or it is a reputable service whose terms of
service are being violated.

-- 
Mark Sapiro <mark at msapiro.net>        The highway is for gamblers,
San Francisco Bay Area, California    better use your sense - B. Dylan



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