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Re: [mail-vet-discuss] Authentication vs. Authorization

2008-10-24 21:46:09

On Oct 24, 2008, at 1:59 PM, Tony Hansen wrote:

I know that for us, if the name of the header were to change at this  
late time, we would *NOT* be able to change our implementation to  
match for probably another 6-12 months.

So personally, here's a -1 for making such a change at this time.


Describing these SPF/Sender-ID results as "authentication" will mean  
domains publishing SPF records are now in jeopardy of dangerously  
misleading recipients whenever a shared outbound server is employed  
somewhere.  The risk will become painfully apparent whenever a bad  
actor's only "authentication" credential is having sent email through  
one of the authorized SMTP clients.  There are _many_ cases where  
independent domains share a common outbound server.   While path  
registration may help reduce a range of spoofed DSNs, it is NEVER safe  
to refer to this mechanism as an AUTHENTICATION method.  This is not  
the first time that this concern has been raised.  A correction now  
should be preferred over a change at a much later date.  It is  
shameful to be sloppy about something that will prove _extremely_  
misleading.

AUTHENTICATION-RESULTS:  my-trusted-isp.com; sender-id=pass 
header(_dot_)from=jon-doe(_at_)e-commerce-are-us(_dot_)com

Someone reading this header added by their trusted ISP will logically  
come to a horribly wrong conclusion.  They are likely to believe that  
the email-address  "jon-doe(_at_)e-commerce-are-us(_dot_)com" had been  
authenticated.  Despite the outrageously misleading header label, the  
information contained within the header only indicates that the SMTP  
client had been authorized.  An authorized SMTP client must not be  
misrepresented as providing an assurance of the authenticity of the  
email-address!   Why make it so damn easy for con-artists?

It would be ludicrous to suggest that all domains should not use  
shared outbound servers, or that all outbound severs should  
authenticate the use of every email-address within a PRA location.

-Doug
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