Re: [sitefinder-tech-discuss] followup from 15oct secsac

[Owen DeLong <owen@delong.com>]

> 	with MX, there is the explicit expectation of a correctly
> 	functioning SMTP server/relay - lots of sites use this
> 	technique.
True.  However, as an implementation detail, having *.com. and *.net.
MX records is a lot more prickly than a *.foo.com. MX record.  I suppose
if Verisign wanted to run an open relay for all of *.com. and *.net.
that would store messages and forward them if the nonexistant condition
was resolved within say 7-14 days, it wouldn't be as big of a problem,
but that isn't what they were doing.  Throwing the mail on the floor
is not an acceptable approach.

> 	Hence benign.  More "prickly" are things like wildcard "A"
> 	records.   Ms. Random Disgruntled has zero idea (from the DNS
> 	side of the house) what, if any, services may be hanging off
> 	the IP address on the other side of that A.  For all she knows,
> 	the services can and will change over time...  Was this
> 	ambiguity considered as a design goal?

Sadly, I think the design goals for the .com/.net wildcards were very 
similar
to the design goals for the African Email scams.

Owen



----------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe or unsubscribe from this elist use the subscription
manager: <http://lists.elistx.com/unsubscribe>