How do I filter out spam that turns up on mailing lists?

[Nigel Henry]

On Wednesday 09 January 2008 00:38, David Relson wrote:
> On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 20:22:34 +0100
>
> Nigel Henry wrote:
> > On Tuesday 08 January 2008 00:14, David Relson wrote:
> > > On Mon, 7 Jan 2008 21:35:35 +0100

< load of snipping done>
> > >
> > > Hello Nigel,
> > >
> > > What you _could_ do is create an ignore list with headers from the
> > > debian list.  This would eliminate those tokens from the scoring
> > > effectively telling bogofilter to score using only body tokens.
> > >
> > > HTH,
> > >
> > > David

> > All the same, your suggestion for setting up an ignore list sounds
> > like a good idea, and would enable me to deal with any future
> > problems.

> > Nigel.

> Hi Nigel,
>
> My mail server has bogofilter.cf  in /etc and contains the following
> lines (among others):
>
>    bogofilter_dir=/var/spool/bogofilter
>    wordlist i,ignore,ignore.db,1
>    wordlist r,word,wordlist.db,2
>
> Using "echo" with bogoutil works fine.  You can also create a file with
> tokens (one per line) and use I/O redirection to have bogoutil read
> it.  It could be done with:
>
>    for W in word1 word2 word3 word4 ; do
>       echo $W >> ignore_list.txt
>    done
>    bogoutil -l ~/.bogofilter/ignore.db < ignore_list.txt
>
> Sounds like you're well on your way !
>
> Regards,
>
> David

Hi David. Meanwhile back at the ranch, I'm not really on my way to creating 
this ignore.db. Not being one to give up (although a few days have passed), 
here's how things stand at present.

I already had an /etc/bogofilter.cf.example file, but also created 
an /etc/bogofilter.cf file. I have added the following 2 lines to this newly 
created file.

wordlist i,ignore,ignore.db,1
wordlist r,word,wordlist.db,2

Question 1:
Do entries in /etc/bogofilter.cf override default settings 
in /etc/bogofilter.cf.example?

Next I created a file named ignore_list.txt, and put the full headers from one 
of my Debian list emails within.

Now I ran the following command.
[djmons at localhost djmons]$ bogoutil -l ~/.bogofilter/ignore.db < 
ignore_list.txt
bogoutil: Unexpected input [ Received:] on line 2. Expecting whitespace before 
count.
read or write error, aborting.
[djmons at localhost djmons]$

Even though there are complaints above, a new file named ignore.db was created 
in ~/.bogofilter, with a size of 8.0KB.

Not sure what this means, but running the following gives this output.

[djmons at localhost djmons]$ bogoutil -d .bogofilter/ignore.db
Return-Path: 0 0 20080125
[djmons at localhost djmons]$

I'm still getting the odd spam email sent to the Debian list, and they are not 
being filtered out by the new but probably faulty ~/.bogofilter/ignore.db.

My Debian mailing list filter is running after bogofilter is running, and I 
unchecked the box "If this filter matches, stop processing here", on the 
filter that runs bogofilter, and also the ones that send to ham, spam, and 
unsure.

Anyway the Debian filter isn't run before bogofilter runs.

I can send you the headers from a Debian mail, if it's of any help, but don't 
want to send it to the list. I say this because my reply to the list "Using 
Bogofilter with Kmail (my setup)" 2006-09-19, is now plastered over the 
Internet, care of Pipermail, with my e-mail address highlighted. Enough said 
on that. What's done is done, but it would be nice if filtering solutions for 
spam would not turn up on  the Internet with the address of the person that 
offered the solution.

That rant aside, I'd still like to get this ignore list working. There is 
hardly any spam on the mailing lists at the moment, but if getting it setup 
can be resolved, I am prepared for the next influx of spam, either due to 
human error, or otherwise.

Next thing on the agenda is trying to shut down spamming sites. I'm sickened 
by all the "get a bigga male member" stuff. And a lot of it is very crude to 
say the least. To think that this is perhaps turning up in young person's 
inbox's. Perhaps I'm just getting a bit old, and perhaps they (the juveniles) 
think this stuff is a bit of a laugh. Sending this junk to spamcop doesn't 
appear to have achieved anything. Next step is to send it to.
http://www.knujon.com/sendusspam.html

Perhaps they can do a better job. Personally I'd like to see the spammers 
strung up to the nearest tree.

Isn't it a shame that we Internet users can't get our hands on the spammers 
necks. One quick twist, and the spammer has gone. perhaps the spammers will 
get the message if a few of them are assassinated in this way.

Spammers beware: This message to bogofilter at bogofilter.org has no doubt 
appeared on the Internet. Spammers beware. Keep looking over your shoulder, 
as maybe someone is looking to take you out.

Sorry David, if I've gone over the edge, but am totally pissed off with spam, 
and obviously nobody can resolve the problem, without shutting down the 
Internet.

A reply, or no reply, personally I couldn't care less. The Internet has become 
a bit of a joke. 

Nigel.