normal?

[michabbs]

Hi, I need your thoughts...
I have small local server that receives 20 or maybe 50 legitimate mails a day. I has been so for years and worked perfect. And it still works perfect, but my tracking center looks so:


PMG does its job excellent - all these mails are spam and indeed should be rejected. My question is: Is it "normal"? How does it look on your side?
I did not get tons of spam in the past, and now it's never ending line of rejected mails... :-(

Example log looks so:

2024-06-27T14:36:34.851577+00:00 zack postfix/smtpd[1605586]: connect from unknown[*]
2024-06-27T14:36:36.190313+00:00 zack postfix/smtpd[1605586]: NOQUEUE: reject: RCPT from unknown[*]: 554 5.7.1 <*>: Recipient address rejected: Rejected by SPF: * is not a designated mailserver for * (context mfrom, on *); from=<*> to=<*> proto=ESMTP helo=<[*]>
2024-06-27T14:36:36.190625+00:00 zack postfix/smtpd[1605586]: using backwards-compatible default setting smtpd_relay_before_recipient_restrictions=no to reject recipient "*" from client "unknown[*]"
2024-06-27T14:36:37.644239+00:00 zack postfix/smtpd[1605586]: lost connection after DATA from unknown[*]
2024-06-27T14:36:37.644514+00:00 zack postfix/smtpd[1605586]: disconnect from unknown[*] ehlo=1 mail=1 rcpt=0/1 data=0/1 commands=2/4

 

[UdoB]

"normal?" - no. Such a title of a new thread is senseless as it does not tell us anything about your problem/question. It is not normal as it simply is not helpful :-(

Any server reachable from the open Internet is bombarded via any open port every few seconds. Of course this is true for email servers too. Some levels higher, on application layer for smtp, the same thing happens: sending spam still is a big thing. So yes, rejected emails are absolutely normal. And with SPF/DKIM etc. they seem just to become more. :-(

If your question is what "connect from unknown[*]" is: I have no idea ;-)

Best regards

 

[michabbs]

"normal?" - no. Such a title of a new thread is senseless as it does not tell us anything about your problem/question. It is not normal as it simply is not helpful :-(

The problem is that for many years I had 50 rejects a day, and now I have 50 within a couple of minutes. I have had my own smtp server in open Internet for 25 years, and spam rate has always been below ~50%. I now it seems to be 99.9%. So the question is - was I simply very lucky in the past and what's now happening is pretty much standard for everyone else?

 

[UdoB]

So the question is - was I simply very lucky in the past

While I do run two mailservers (one public, one restricted) I only have a very low point of view, but I believe: yes

A lot of people say legit Email is declining as there are other communication ways nowadays. At the same time sending spam still gets cheaper, meaning the vast amount is still rising. I have no current numbers but the unfiltered ratio above 99% is much more probable than 50%.