maia mailguard ncsa 9 may 2005
DESCRIPTION
A talk I gave to the NC System Administrators group ( http://www.ncsysadmin.org/ ) on 9-May-2005 on Maia Mailguard. Probably outdated at this point.TRANSCRIPT
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Spam Prevention using Maia Mailguard
Tanner LovelaceNorth Carolina System Administrators
9/May/2005
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The Spam Problem
Spam seems to be growing at an exponential rate
Running without some sort of spam filter is not an option anymore
However, one size doesn’t fit all.
Users need to adjust their own settings
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Assumptions
You know or already have a mail server setup
You’ve heard of (or at least can lookup) amavisd-new, spamassassin, and various virus filters.
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What is amavisd-new?Framework for mail filtering
Virus scanning
Spam filtering
Banning dangerous attachments
Handling invalid mail headers
Filtering policies
Quarantine and notification
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What is SpamAssassin?
Spam Filtering
Feature recognition
Lookups
Collaborative reporting networks
Bayesian learning mechanisms
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Maia Mailguard
Began as simple web interface to amavisd-new
Expanded over time to become complete system
PHP, SQL and Perl scripts
Database (MySQL or PostgreSQL)
amavisd-new, SpamAssassin, and virus scanners
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Web Interface
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Quarantine Area
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Spam Quarantine
Users can manage their own quarantine area
Rescue (redeliver) e-mails
Confirm as spam
Delete
Users can also report false negatives
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Spam Reporting
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Administration Demo
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Maia Mailguard Setup
Main script is amavisd-new patched to save e-mails to database
The patched script replaces amavisd-new
Run the exact same way as amavisd-new
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Behind the ScenesFront end is PHP but backend is Perl scripts run by cron.
process-quarantine.pl (hourly)
expire-quarantine-cache.pl (daily)
send-quarantine-reminders.pl (weekly)
load-sa-rules.pl (upon SA rule changes)
stats-snapshot.pl (hourly at top of hour)
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Important things to consider
Lots of database usage
Default MySQL tables lock entire table on writes.
Use InnoDB tables instead (row-level locking)
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What I’d like to see addressed in the future
Better e-mail alias management
Better domain management
Better documentation on getting good performance
Mail client integration
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Conclusion
Maia Mailguard is an easy, effective spam/virus management system.
Users can handle their own policies, training, and quarantine areas.
Easy to use web interface.
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Useful links
Maia Mailguard home
http://www.renaissoft.com/maia/
Linux Journal article
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7820