Re: [exim] "Bad words" filtering

On Sun, May 31, 2009 at 12:08:36AM +0100, Martin A. Brooks wrote:
> On 30/05/2009 04:15, Richard Salts wrote:
> > We're currently using a custom written smtp server that filters "bad words".
> >
>
>
> Cue the Scunthorpe problem.
>

We used to filter along these lines a long time ago until better
things were available. What amazed me was the number of surnames that
fell foul of the filter, such as Wank, Cock and Cunther (all real
examples).

The other issue is that mis-spelling is reasonably comon to evade
filters. Once you try matching similar words, the problem of
false positives gets worse.