RE: VGER does gradual SPF activation (FAQ matter)

David Schwartz
2006-06-11T02:58:32Z

> Rather than inject emotions let's play a little bit with facts. This is
> excerpts from a SpamAssassin report for about 82000 emails.
>
> TOP SPAM RULES FIRED
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> RANK RULE NAME COUNT %OFRULES %OFMAIL %OFSPAM %OFHAM
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 49 SPF_SOFTFAIL 1804 0.42 2.20 8.31 0.01
> 72 SPF_HELO_PASS 1112 0.26 1.36 5.13 47.45
> 78 SPF_PASS 994 0.23 1.21 4.58 45.53
> 92 SPF_HELO_SOFTFAIL 772 0.18 0.94 3.56 0.03
> 113 SPF_FAIL 589 0.14 0.72 2.71 0.00
> 177 SPF_HELO_FAIL 352 0.08 0.43 1.62 0.00
>
> Stated from the opposite view
>
> TOP HAM RULES FIRED
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> RANK RULE NAME COUNT %OFRULES %OFMAIL %OFSPAM %OFHAM
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 5 SPF_HELO_PASS 28563 7.20 34.88 5.13 47.45
> 6 SPF_PASS 27409 6.90 33.47 4.58 45.53
>
> And so forth.
>
> People here should be smart enough to draw their own conclusions from
> raw data.

Yeah, that you measured the wrong thing. SPF does not distinguish spam from
non-spam.

What percentage of emails with forged sender addresses passed an SPF check?
What percentage of emails with forged sender addresses failed an SPF check?
What percentage of emails that correctly identified their senders passed an
SPF check? What percentage of emails that correctly identified their senders
failed an SPF check?

SPF is an anti-forgery tool. It helps to prevent joe-jobs and false claims
of being the victim of a joe-job.

DS