Features

Hades Data Services provides the following features as enhancements over other shell services:

1. Multiple levels of email anti-spam measures, including any or all of the following:
   1. Sender address verification, where mail from non-existent or non-functional return addresses is refused.
   2. Rejection of mail from known open mail relays, open proxies, and other systems likely to have been hijacked by spammers.
   3. Rejection of mail from dial-up addresses and dynamic IP pools.
   4. Rejection of mail based on known spammer misconfiguration attempting to bypass normal anti-spam measures.
2. Automatic defanging of executable attachments to emails, providing a first-line of defense against email-borne viruses and Trojan-horse programs.
3. Outbound mail relay for authenticating clients, via SASL/SPA.
4. Secure, encrypted connections, including the use of secured tunnels to obtain VPN-like behavior with minimal configuration complications.
5. Integration of encryption tools with shell email clients is available.

Limitations

For various reasons, largely matters of securing your access and data from prying eyes and theft, some tools and means of access normally available on systems of this type are not available:

1. No telnet access is available. User IDs, passwords, and entire sessions are transmitted in the clear via telnet, making the information readable from any machine between Hades Data Services and your desktop. Telnet access has been replaced with ssh.
2. No direct ftp access is available. As with telnet, user IDs, passwords, and the entire transfer may be monitored by unauthorized parties. Ftp access has been replaced with SFTP (Secured FTP) and scp (secure copy) tools.
3. No direct USENET access is available from outside the shell accounts. Use the NNTP service provided by your ISP, set up secure tunnels, or use the shell tools.