who is qualified for smtp server?

[lovekang]

Can everybody set smtp server(windows, Linux, Unix)?
I mean if someone is online, he or she can send mail?
if so, what if some notorious guys send lot's of spam mail?
if not so, which conditions have to be met?

 

[Grenage]

if so, what if some notorious guys send lot's of spam mail?

They do!

Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[pansophic]

Anyone can set up an SMTP server. Most (if not all) Linux distros bundle a couple of SMTP servers. Older distros would allow relaying by default.

Spammers take advantage of SMTP servers that are configured to relay and send volumes of email through unprotected servers. It is a pretty safe bet that if the administrator doesn't know enough about it to turn off relaying (at least without authentication) they'll never notice a few hundred thousand emails running through their servers either.


pansophic

 

[retsila]

the reason why the spammers use 3rd party SMTP servers to relay msgs instead of just connecting their own is it makes them harder to trace.

 

[QatQat]

to add more, sometimes, even if they use a dynamic address connection, DNS black lists may catch them on one address and block it for 24 hrs.

Spammers simply reconnect, get a fresh address and start all over again.

Obviosly, as retsila mentioned, using your own DSL connection, on the long run will lead them to you.

Not all countries, though, consider this an offense: if you look at ther hundreds of spamcop listing in your morning logwatch email, they usually come from countries where breaking people's balls with spam is not yet considered an offense.

I am not mentioning any of these countries but you can find out by doing a simple traceroute on the address in the spamcop report.

QatQat

If I could have sex each time I reboot my server, I would definitely prefer Windoz over Linux!