chalenge response software

[Adam Myrow]

Am I right in assuming that these tools will only work properly if you run
your own mail domain?  I.E., for the average home user, who gets his/her
mail from a POP3 server or IMAP server on their ISP, can such tools still be
used?  My current tool is a procmail filter called Spam Bouncer.  It's
basically a very complex set of procmail rules that tags messages as ok,
bulk, possible spam, and definitely spam.   It uses a scoring system which
you can customize to decide what levels to use to tag messages.  You can
have probable and definite spam go to different places, and you can also
filter some viruses.  It comes with a sample .procmailrc file which you can
modify to suit your needs.  You can (and should,) create two files
containing your legitimate email addresses.  One is for mailing lists, and
the other is for personal email.  Such messages are stored automatically,
and undergo no further processing.  It really cuts down on false positives.
This filter is updated frequently, so it's a good idea to check the web site
every once in awhile.  It catches almost all my spam.  There is a special
email address you can send spam that it misses to, so the author can look at
it and add rules to catch it in future releases.  Lastly, there are optional
features to send complaints to spammers, and offer senders who get blocked a
password to get their email through.  I never use these features, but I can
see how they might be useful to some people.  The web page for this filter
is at http://www.spambouncer.org.  It works quite well with my setup of
fetchmail retrieving my email, and sendmail only allowing connections from
localhost.