From: JThomas at poweronemedia.com (Joshua Thomas)
Subject: VeriSign's fake SMTP server for SiteFinder


> But why they wait until the DATA command is a total mystery to me. It
> seems much more logical to bounce the message after the RCPT TO:
> command. 

<conspiracy theory>

To read our mail?

</conspiracy theory>

By the way, looks like they switched to Postfix?

ibanix@...xxx:~$ telnet sdf435a.com 25
Trying 64.94.110.11...
Connected to sdf435a.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 sitefinder.verisign.com VeriSign mail rejector (Postfix)
^CConnection closed by foreign host.


Joshua Thomas


> 
> Hope this helps,
> 
> Dan
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, 2003-09-22 at 20:13, Richard M. Smith wrote:
> > Hello,
> > 
> > Does anyone know why Verisign has set up a fake SMTP server at their
> > SiteFinder service to bounce email messages sent to misspelled or
> > expired domain names?  The fake SiteFinder SMTP server gives the
> > impression that it is a real SMTP server and happily 
> accepts "To" and
> > "From" email addresses before rejecting a misdirected email 
> message.  
> > 
> > I don't quite understand what technical issues Verisign is trying to
> > solve here with a fake server.  Any guesses?
> > 
> > I've attached an early email from Verisign that gives a bit more
> > information about how this fake SMTP server operates but 
> not why it is
> > needed.
> > 
> > Richard M. Smith
> > http://www.ComputerBytesMan.com
> > 
> > ========================================
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: sitefinder@...isign-grs.com 
[mailto:sitefinder@...isign-grs.com] 
> Sent: Saturday, September 20, 2003 4:03 PM
> To: Richard M. Smith
> Subject: Re: Verisign's SiteFinder also breaks Outlook
> (KMM988642V87763L0KM)
> 
> Dear Richard,
> 
> We wanted to pass along a recent update we made our email Bounce server:
> 
> One piece of feedback we received multiple times after the addition of
> the wildcard A record to the .com/.net zones concerned snubby, our
> SMTP mail rejection server.  This server was designed to be the most
> modest of SMTP implementations and supported only the most common
> sequence of SMTP commands.
> 
> In response to this feedback, we have deployed an alternate SMTP
> implementation using Postfix that should address many of the concerns
> we've heard.  Like snubby, this server rejects any mail sent to it (by
> returning 550 in response to any number of RCPT TO commands).
> 
> We would like to state for the record that the only purpose of this
> server is to reject mail immediately to avoid its remaining in MTA
> queues throughout the Internet.  We are specifically not retaining,
> nor do we have any intention to retain, any email addresses from these
> SMTP transactions.  In fact, to achieve sufficient performance, all
> logging has been disabled.
> 
> Refer to our General & Technical FAQs regarding other questions on the 
> new Site Finder service. They are located at:
> 
> http://www.verisign.com/nds/naming/sitefinder/
> 
> We remain committed to ensuring that Site Finder improves Web navigation
> and the user experience.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> Best Regards,
> 
> Customer Service
> VeriSign, Inc.
> www.verisign.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Full-Disclosure - We believe in it.
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