what is your opinion on disabling catch-alls system-wide.
We are considering to implement a new global clustered anti-spam solution and disabling catch-alls would greatly increase its effectiveness.
Catch-alls are like black holes for spam.
Black holes meaning them pull them all in 
Isn’t that what they do? 
That wasn’t my terminology
Go for it!
Sounds good to me. Microsoft has realzied this in Exchange server.
Jon
Yash,
Black holes pull in all matter around them, I thought it was a perfect description for a catchall pulilng all spam to a domain
Anything that can potentially cut down on Spam is worth doing IMHO. Just wondering if there is any benefit to possibly stopping auto-responders as well? Maybe that isn’t a viable option though..just thinking (or rather typing) out loud!
Many auto responders have been stopped with notice given to them from abuse dept for masses of spamcop listings(and this is the reason for spamcop NOT listing nearly as much recently)
some people like having the catch-all, that way a misspelling can eventually find it’s way to an owner…
That said, if someone doesn’t know how to spell my first name, then I probably don’t want an email from them, huh?
If it helps in this neverending fight with spam issues, then let’s do it!
I would, however, contact all resellers via email and give a ‘comment period’ so we can get feedback from our clients. Not all resellers watch the forums on a regular basis…
Tim
I actively discourage my customers from using catch-all mailboxes to help reduce the amount of spam they receive. However, a few insist on the need for such a facility due to misspelling of addresses.
From my point of view, it would be better for the user to create aliases for all possible misspellings rather than use a catch-all.
Yes, disable catch-all by all means.
You have my vote. Although I think the auto-responders need to stay.
Our customers need auto-responders, especially at the time of public holidays, but also for other operational reasons.
Catch-alls they can live without.
I understand the theory of why people want to use auto-responders. However I personally will no longer use them. Besides the fact that they can be abused, they are just another Spam magnet for the Spammers. Any time an auto-responder generates a message that spammers can see..they then know they have a valid email address..and on many more lists that email address then goes unfortunately.
What about people that use catch-all’s as disposable emails when subscribing to some places so they can later identify if the account has been compromised and block it?
Um, that is what hotmail is for…
I typically have about 5 email addresses –
1.) my primary work address (for clients I trust),
2.) a home address (for friends I trust),
3.) a ‘junk’ work address like ‘[email protected]’ to use when I request work information from vendors,
4.) a gmail account for newsletters I want to read
5.) a hotmail acct for crap (where I have to input a valid email address to get something offline, but which I never want email correspondence from)
6+.) Then various other aliases for use on web sites (sales@, admin@, info@, billing@, etc)
Like was posted before (I think in this thread), if someone has a hard time spelling [email protected], will you really miss not reading their email? If you have an odd name, you can always do a couple aliases…
I don’t use catch-alls and really don’t care if they are removed altogether. If you “handle your biz” correctly, you have no need for catch-alls.
As for disposable email accounts: If you’re too lazy to create a new forward in H-Sphere ([email protected] → [email protected]), then the removal of the catch-all option may be a good motivator for you to start “handling your biz”.
/WebDeveloper
I currently use catch-all and so do a few of my customers. I’d be okay with disallowing them going forward, but only if current users can keep them. I have a bunch of email addresses I use that currently aren’t added as aliases and probably couldn’t remember them all.
Is JH still even thinking about doing this? It was originally brought up 4 months ago.
What is “handle your biz”, “WebDeveloper”?
It’s short for “handle your business”, a phrase that basically means: Do what needs to be done in a correct and efficient manner.
/WebDeveloper
Tim, if you’re still using Hotmail, that may mean you have yet to use Gmail. If you’re unfamiliar with Gmail, consider the following: >2.5GB storage, Ajax interface, Pop3 access, Domain name aliasing, etc. You can’t beat it, especially for the price, FREE.
/WebDeveloper