VailNet | Spam Filters

SPAM Filters:

It's an unfortunate fact that there is more and more unsolicited bulk email being sent to internet users every day. As an ISP we find that much of our system resources are spent processing this junk mail. For the most part, neither we as a business nor you as our customers have any interest in receiving this SPAM.

Many of our clients have requested that we take steps to block SPAM from reaching their mailboxes. At the same time, everyone expects that all email sent to them by legitimate business associates or peers still be reliably delivered. This is a difficult problem for VailNet, as we know of no computer program that can, with 100% certainty, identify SPAM over real emails without the possibility of a 'false positive'.

To try and find something that will help our customers, VailNet now runs software which scans all incoming emails and trys to determine if they might be SPAM. If the filter thinks the email is SPAM, it will insert "*****SPAM*****" in front of the subject of the email and will insert various headers (which you do not normally see) saying why the filter thought the email was SPAM. Most of the time, the emails marked as SPAM actually are. However, for the few cases where the email isn't a SPAM, we're doing the safe thing and delivering the email so that you, the actual recipient, can make the final decision.

You can easily setup your mail browser to check for the text that the filter inserts into suspected SPAM emails to have them automatically moved from your inbox folder into a special "spam" folder. If you wish to take the risk that an email marked as SPAM is really SPAM (no false positives) then you can also have your mail reader program move any suspected SPAMs directly into your trash folder. Either of these "tricks" will keep your inbox pretty "clean" -- hopefully only with real emails to you while still giving you a chance to review emails moved (hopefully correctly) to the spam folder.

SETTING UP VARIOUS EMAIL READERS TO FILTER

OUTLOOK EXPRESS:

Open "Outlook Express"

Hold down right mouse over "Local Folders" and select "New Folder..."

Enter a folder name (we suggest "spam")

Pulldown "Tools->Message Rules->Mail"

Click on the "New..." button on the right

Under "1. Select the Conditions for your rule" put a check in the box to the left of "Where the message subject contains specific words"

Under "2. Select the Actions for your rule" put a check in the box to the left of "Move it to the specified folder"

Under "3. Rule Description" click on the hypertext link of "contains specific words".

Type in "*****SPAM*****" Be sure and enter this exact string (SPAM in caps, etc).

Click on the "Add" button so that this sentence shows up under the "Words:" list.

Click on "OK"

Click on the hypertext link of the word "specified".

Click on the folder you created earlier (probably "spam")

Click on "OK"

If you'd like change the "4. Name of the rule" string

Click on "OK"

Click on "Apply now"

Click on "Select All"

Click on "Apply now"

Click on "OK"

Any new email that you receive which has "SPAM: This mail is probably spam" will automatically be moved from your inbox into the "spam" box as it is received. If you wish to view/review it just click on the folder named "spam".

NETSCAPE MESSANGER:

Open Messanger (if you're in netscape you may need to pull down Communicator->Messanger to do this)

Goto "Edit->Message Filters"

Click on the "New..." button

Enter a Filter name (eg: "spam")

Make sure that "Match any of the following" is selected

Use the pulldown to select the "subject" for the filter

after "of the message" use the pulldown to select "contains"

To the right of the "contains" pulldown type in "*****SPAM*****" (be sure to type this Exactly)

use the pulldown to select "Move to folder" after the word "then"

If you have not already created a "spam" folder, click on "New Folder..."

Enter "spam" for the "Name" of the folder

Set the "Create as a subfolder of:" to "Local Mail"

click on OK

Make sure that the pulldown says "spam" (for folder name)

click on OK

Any new email that you receive which has "*****SPAM*****" in its subject will automatically be moved from your inbox into the "spam" box as it is received. If you wish to view/review it just click on the folder named "spam".