How to block Lotus Notes Mail from yourself
If you still wish to block mail from yourself, there are several ways this can be done. You can also use the same techniques to block mail from any address or domain. There are three different ways to block mail with Domino:
1. At the server — using the deny control of Inbound Sender Controls
2. At the server– using server mail rules
3. At the user’s mail file — using mail rules in the user’s mail file.
The most efficient method is to use Inbound Sender Controls because it rejects the mail before it completely enters the server. Inbound Sender Controls are enforced in real time as mail is being sent from the sender mail server into the Domino server. Mail rules in the user’s mail file are the least efficient because they are not processed until after the mail is routed through servers and delivered to the user’s mail file.
To block mail using Inbound Sender Controls:
1. Open and edit the Configuration Settings document for the server or servers. See Configuration Settings documents for details.
2. Select the Router/SMTP=>Restrictions and Controls=>SMTP Inbound Controls tab.
3. Navigate to the Inbound Sender Controls section.
4. Enter the domains and addresses to block in the Deny messages from the following Internet addresses/domains field, and then click Save & Close.
To block mail using server mail rules, follow the steps in Creating a mail rule using the conditions to match the domain or address that you wish to act on and the action you wish taken.
To block using mail rules in the user’s mail file, refer to the Notes 6 Help for details on created mail rules in Notes mail (see Resources). Notes mail rules are similar to server mail rules and can be found in your Notes mail under Tools=>Rules. Use the conditions to match the domain or address that you wish to act on and the action you wish taken.
Blocking mail from yourself overview
One method used by spammers is to send the spam so that the from address looks like it came from your own mail address or domain. Forging an address like this is known as spoofing.
You can block mail that is from your own domain or your personal e-mail address in several different ways. You can block mail at the server using the deny control of Inbound Sender Controls or using server mail rules. You can also do the blocking in the user’s mail file with mail rules.
WARNING: The rational behind blocking mail from yourself is that any mail coming to you from outside your mail server that claims to be from you is a forgery. On the surface, it seems like a reasonable assumption, but it’s not always true and can sometimes block legitimate mail, as explained in Blocking mail from yourself can block legitimate mail.
Blocking mail from yourself can block legitimate mail
Because there are many legitimate uses for spoofing mail to make it appear to come from you, it is likely that you will block legitimate mail with this technique. A very common legitimate use of spoofing mail addresses is done by Web sites that send mail on your behalf. They usually do this when you request that a message be sent to someone from their Web site, such as a link to a page on the site or news. Sending the message with your e-mail address in the from field makes it clear that the e-mail was initiated by you, and allows the recipient to use reply to respond directly to you.
IBM’s Lotus QuickPlace uses this technique to send notifications via e-mail. If you use the Notify feature of QuickPlace, it will spoof your e-mail address to make it look like the e-mail came from you. Technically speaking, it is coming from you: it’s being created and sent by QuickPlace software at your request.
If you block mail from your own e-mail address and send a QuickPlace notification to yourself, or more likely cc: yourself on a notification to someone else, it will get blocked. Worse is if you block spoofed mail for your entire domain. You could potentially block mail from any of your users in all of the QuickPlaces on that server.
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