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Verizon.net Finally Moving Email To Port 587
The Washington Post's Security Fix blog is reporting that Verizon, long identified as the largest ISP source of spam, is moving to require use of the submission port, 587, in outbound mail — and thus to require authentication. While spammers may still be able to relay spam through zombies in Verizon's network, if the victims let their mail clients remember their authentication credentials, at least the zombies will be easily identifiable. Verizon pledges to clean up their zombie problem quickly. We'll see.
I found out I was a spammer when I investigated a message returned to me. I ended up talking with someone from SORBS. After emailing SORBS a couple of times, I received this message from Michelle Sullivan: "SORBS lists IP addresses that send spam. Often there is real email mixed with the spam, sometimes deliberately, sometimes accidentally. In this case you are using an IP address to send your email that has previously, and is still, sending spam. The IP address is blocked. I'd contact your provider and complain bitterly about it, because it's the provider that is listed, not you specifically."
I send out a newsletter with about 250 subscribers. After talking with SORBS, I contacted Verizon and found out that, even though we signed up for Verizon Business, they limit the amount of email I can send a week to 500 messages. I rarely approach 200 messages and the newsletter is a monthly. Verizon told me I couldnâ(TM)t even send the newsletter in one blast; I had to limit it to 100 subscribers an hour! And in late Fall 2008, some providers, like MS, would reject my mail simply because it had @Verizon.net in the senderâ(TM)s address. I knew I wasn't sending out large amounts of email, let alone spam.
Within those imposed limits, Verizon still could not bring its huge entity to investigate my complaint. In late December, we switch to Constant Contact to email the newsletter. While my boss uses Cox since he works mostly from home, the office is still âoeconnectedâ with Verizon!
Boy, I hate Verizon! Now, maybe they will kill the Zombies from all those dead zones they claim not to have!
=smidge=
Is it just my observation, or is eldavojohn an idiot?
This implies that they are blocking all outbound port 25 requests. All ISPs in Japan that I am aware of have been doing this for a long time. The problem is that if you have a 3rd party email service provider, you can no longer send email through them because port 25 will be blocked and if the other party offers the alternative port as well, it is still often blocked.
Still, for MOST people, this is a good plan. I just think that users should be informed of this change, informed why it is a good idea for MOST people and to give them an option to "opt out" of the restriction in some way if the restriction is not compatible with their current needs.
My home ISP (oblig. disclaimer: I now work for them too) has blocked port 25 outbound by default on 'Home' ADSL connections for a while now.
It's all configurable from the online webtools, so you can turn it back on if you want it.
And there's even an in-depth FAQ about it on the site.
IMHO it's a great idea, and I wish more ISPs did it.