[Mailman-Users] Automated Subscription Bots Inundating List Owners With Subscription Requests

[Lindsay Haisley]

On Tue, 2012-10-30 at 04:56 +0000, Kalbfleisch, Gary wrote:
> Don't assume that I don't have the skills.

I don't.  Please accept my apology if you thought that I implied this.

> I have been building the linux os from source since long before most
> people even heard of the Internet.  I manage my time very carefully,
> and mailman is a very small part of what I do.  The newest version of
> mailman does not resolve any of the issues that I have  been
> expiriencing if you have read my posts.

Yes, I have been following the thread.  An update to a newer version of
MM would allow you to bulk-delete spurious subscription requests - a
small advantage, to be sure, but a time-saver over versions which didn't
offer this administrative feature.

> I have implemented the security measures required using other means
> until such a time that they are resolved in mailman.

FWIW, I've had very good results using SpamAssassin as a pre-filter for
Mailman, using James Henstridge's package (patched for post MM versions
>= 2.1.10).  See:

http://wiki.list.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=4030589
http://www.jamesh.id.au/articles/mailman-spamassassin/

This filter also blocks a lot of spurious subscription attempts,
according to my list hosting customers, who have told me that the filter
has substantially reduced the amount of administrative spam they have to
deal with (compared to when the filter has not been in place) and
haven't mentioned a problem with false positives.

I know this filter is quite old, but with the patch for more recent MM
versions (wiki.list.org) it seems to work quite well.

Servers here also block email at the front door based on the CBL
advisory list, which probably also helps.

-- 
Lindsay Haisley       |  "Humor will get you through times of no humor
FMP Computer Services |      better than no humor will get you through
512-259-1190          |         times of humor."
http://www.fmp.com    |            - Butch Hancock