[Esa-l] Outgoing Mail

[Andy Feldt]

Lee Howard wrote:
> I'm probably not helping anything by saying this, but I don't really
> understand the value of scanning outgoing mail.  If we assume that our
> users are clean, then what is the value of scanning outgoing mail?
> 
> And if we cannot assume that our users are clean, then wouldn't it be
> better to nip the problem in the bud rather than somewhere downstream?
> 
> I understand the purpose in scanning outgoing mail, but I don't understand
> the value of it.  We scan incoming mail in an effort to ensure that we are
> clean.  If we cannot ensure that we are clean ourselves, then why bother
> scanning incoming mail, even?

Please be aware that some of us have mail aliases which, in whole or
in part, deliver to non-local addresses.  Thus, if I have an alias like:

thegroup: fred,tom,clueless at seattle

and someone (anyone), sends e-mail to thegroup at mymailhost.mydomain
only fred and tom are protected if the sender is sending a virus.
Yet, if if clueless at seattle is really a part of my organization but
prefers to read his/her e-mail elsewhere, I want to protect him/her, too,
even though I have no control over the final delivery mail server.

---
Andy Feldt
Senior System Support Programmer
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Department of Physics and Astronomy
The University of Oklahoma