DynDNS' MailHop Sees Major Anti-Spam Improvements

December 22, 2006; 02:36 AM
DynDNS completed major improvements to its MailHop anti-spam handling. Added features include user-defined thresholds for both tagging and auto-discarding OF e-mail. MailHop customers also enjoy whitelisting and blacklisting of specifc email addresses and wildcards by username, domain, or Top Level Domain (TLD).

These features are immediately available for all new and existing MailHop Relay and Forward services. For default settings, DynDNS recommends a tagging threshold of 6.0, an auto-discard threshold at 18.0, and virus filtering, in order to reduce spam and virii being delivered to customers.

DynDNS uses SpamAssassin and ClamAV for spam scoring and virus scanning, respectively. SpamAssassin is part of the Apache project, who are the makers of the popular Apache web server. ClamAV is a GPL virus scanner with impressive virii definitions and has been the first to detect a number of virii. DynDNS updates its ClamAV anti-virus definitions every four hours to catch even the newest virii.

MailHop also features a number of DNS based blacklists (DNSBL). E-mail destined to a MailHop domain that is on a user selected DNSBL is automatically rejected. DynDNS supports lists such as the Spamhaus Block List, Spamhaus Exploits Block List, SpamCop Blocking List, and various RFC-Ignorant lists. DynDNS can also reject e-mail which comes from a server without proper reverse DNS.

MailHop is a collection of e-mail processing services offered by DynDNS. MailHop Forward allows users to set up e-mail aliases in a domain name and forward e-mail to specific recipients for a given alias. MailHop Relay allows users to have DynDNS act as a smart relay agent for their e-mail server on a number of different ports. In the event that the user's e-mail server is down, DynDNS will queue mail and attempt delivery for the next 10 days.

About DynDNS

Formed in 1998, Dynamic Network Services, Inc. (www.dyndns.com) provides superior domain name system (DNS) services with the highest levels of redundancy, service, and support in the industry. Our world-class team of DNS experts allows us to provide unprecedented quality of service and support, and our use of proven open source technology reduces cost and risk to our users.

Dynamic Network Services, Jeremy Hitchcock, 603-668-4998