Ircd spam filter

Sun Jun 6 23:03:19 EDT 2004

It would really depends on the size of the server, the size of the 
network, the size of the cpu, and other factors.

No doubt it should be handled by a separate service (potentially even 
separate hardware) -- in order to do this at the application level, an 
interface into the ircd would be necessary (logging or other).

I'm not certain how much demand there actually is for an interface like 
this.  But besides the email request(s) to this list, I know of quite a 
few ircd admins who have monitored privmsgs in some capacity in the past 
and continue to do so now -- either by writing their own code or sniffing.

For all of these reasons, I don't buy the efficiency argument either.

Jack L. wrote:

> Imagine what would happen if an ircd filtered every private message that went through it, word by word or character by character, how much cpu it would take to process each private message. If you have a large irc network and a large amount of people chatting continuously, the irc server would lag to mars trying to filter out each private message. If you think about the efficiency side, it would be better if the ircd not handle message filtering and leave that up to some irc bot or some irc service. ircd filtering private messages is not practical.
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Adam Herscher <xref at blackened.com>
> Date: Sun, 06 Jun 2004 17:35:15 -0700
> To: General IRCD-Hybrid Discussion <hybrid at lists.ircd-hybrid.org>
> Subject: Re: Ircd spam filter
> 
> 
>>ISPs and email providers parse users private emails to filter spam (even 
>>if only to apply a probabilistic spam rating), and users reap the benefits.
>>
>>Google's new Gmail service parses users private emails to provide 
>>targeted ad content.
>>
>>Governments and law enforcement agencies parse users private emails, 
>>phone calls, faxes, AND irc messages to prevent crime/terrorism under 
>>the law.
>>
>>Whether you agree or disagree with spam filtering, advertising, and/or 
>>the patriot act, bringing your own politics into the codebase is never a 
>>good idea.  Some organizations running irc servers/networks may wish to 
>>filter private messages they consider to be spam.  Others may wish to 
>>provide ad content.  Yet others may wish to provide an interface for law 
>>enforcement to gain visibility into private messages -- especially if 
>>they come in with a warrant, and are intent on doing so anyway.
>>
>>Parsing private messages to profile or collect aggregate data may be 
>>considered useful, and less of an invasion of privacy.
>>
>>Finally, any expectations of privacy lie with the claims made by the 
>>organization(s) running the irc server/network, not with the protocol's 
>>use of the string PRIVMSG.  Channel chatter uses PRIVMSGs -- there's 
>>certainly no expectation of privacy on a public irc channel (aren't 
>>search engines beginning to index them?)
>>
>>- Adam
>>
>>Jack L. wrote:
>>
>>>I don't agree with writing a private message filter for an ircd. The ircd is a server, not a filter. Spying into people's private messages is not what an ircd is written for and personally, I would not want my private messages filtered in any way shape or form. Private messages are exactly what they are, private. Filtering everyone's messages just because some spam bot decides to ruin everything is not a good reason. That is like filtering everyone's private emails to find that spammer. It is unfortunate that people use irc to spam, but filtering private messages is not the way to go. 
>>>----- Original Message -----
>>>From: Philippe <feel at feeleas.org>
>>>Date: Sun, 06 Jun 2004 15:32:02 +0200
>>>To: General IRCD-Hybrid Discussion <hybrid at lists.ircd-hybrid.org>
>>>Subject: Re: Ircd spam filter
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Bill Bierman wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>>>>From: hybrid-bounces at lists.ircd-hybrid.org [mailto:hybrid-
>>>>>>bounces at lists.ircd-hybrid.org] On Behalf Of Harald Paulsen
>>>>>>Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2004 5:32 PM
>>>>>>To: General IRCD-Hybrid Discussion
>>>>>>Subject: Re: Ircd spam filter
>>>>>>  
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>><snip>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>Allthough I agree that it could be beneficial to have a feature like
>>>>>>that sometimes, it is a dangerous line to cross.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>1) It can and will be abused
>>>>>>2) Server operators risk loosing their common carrier-status.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>On the other hand, if one could load a module that specifically filters
>>>>>>ONE special message, #2 might be avoided. It's risky though.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>We have no business reading peoples messages, even if to protect them.
>>>>>>  
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>Another good point.  Users would have to ASK for such a service to be
>>>>>provided to them.  The conclusion you draw from that is if you're going to
>>>>>require their consent, why not leave it up to them and their client to
>>>>>filter that stuff out?
>>>>>
>>>>>Bill
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>   Privacy....
>>>>   Sorry, but don't invoke privacy for this, Fyle spambot, agobot, 
>>>>fishers, etc, are more dangerous for user's privacy than this filter.
>>>>   If an admin wants to spy private messages, he just need to lauch 
>>>>ethereal or such program.
>>>>  
>>>>
>>>>>Another good point. Users would have to ASK for such a service to be
>>>>
>>>>   Of course, all users asking me every day to proctect them, and  I'm 
>>>>tired to play with additionnal services, perl script or eggdrops : bots 
>>>>are still there.
>>>>   But, perhaps you got a better solution (I'm not kidding you). ?
>>>>  
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>                              ~Jack~
>>>
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>                               ~Jack~
> 