Question : Restricting Inbout SMTP IP Addresses in Groupwise

Does anyone know of a good way to restrict inbout IP addresses for mail delivery in Groupwise. I have an external filtering service through with all of our email is delivered. We're currently getting alot of direct delivery attempts that I'm confident are viruses or spammers that somehow got ahold of our actual IP address, which is not the one in our MX record, as that points to the filtering service's address. Is there a good way to limit Groupwise to only accept connections from a certain set of IP addresses (we still need it open to off-campus connections to our post-office for staff)?

DK

Answer : Restricting Inbout SMTP IP Addresses in Groupwise

Note that GroupWise v6.5 has markedly-improved anti-SPAM features - for example, Realtime Blackhole Lists (RBLs). Obviously, you've outsourced your A/V and anti-SPAM, but if you have a modern version you can do many of the same things in house. Just something to keep in mind.

Another, and I think *easier* way to do this is at your perimeter.Go into your firewall configuration (you DO have a firewall, don't you?????) and put in a rule that prohibits Port 25 traffic to your GWIA unless it originates from your filtering service's network. Then the spammers won't be able to reach th GWIA.

Note that the GWIA's Access Control database is stored in <SERVERNAME>/<VOLUME ON WHICH THE DOMAIN IS LOCATED>:<NAME OF DOMAIN>\WPGATE\GWIA\GWAC.DB - if you are employing any Access Control features (whether its the one we're discussing here or something like controlling which GroupWise accounts can send/receive Internet E-Mail, or anything else managed from the Access Control panel I mentioned in my earlier comment) then be aware that the database has NO recovery tools. If it gets corrupted and you don't have a backup, well, you're hosed. You'll have to recreate it - the System Maintenance and GroupWise DB recovery tools do not function for that database. Just an FYI.