Spam Filtering

I just received spam. What should I do?

At Simon's Rock, we take unsolicited email seriously. We strongly encourage you to forward such messages to spam@simons-rock.edu with full headers (not just date, from, to, and subject).

For more information, visit http://www.stopspam.org/ or http://spamcop.net. By reporting your spam messages, you can help us take steps to prevent such spam in the future.

How do I forward a message with full headers?

In Webmail, when viewing the message you would like to forward, click on Forward as Attachment. (To view but not forward the full headers, select View Full Header under Options:.)

In pine, type H to display full headers and then F to forward the message. Type N when given the option to forward as an attachment. (If typing H does not display full headers, you need to enable full headers. To enable full headers, type M, then S, and then C to get to the setup configuration. Type W and then full-header and Enter to locate the enable-full-header-cmd option. Type X to set the option, followed by E and Y to exit.)

In OS X Mail, if you have a Show Headers icon in your toolbar, simply click on it before forwarding. Otherwise, go to the View menu and select Show All Headers before clicking on the Forward icon.

In Mozilla, go to the View menu and select Headers and then All. Then go to the Message menu and select Forward As and then Inline to forward the message.

In Eudora, click on the BLAH BLAH BLAH button on the upper left hand corner of the message. You may then have to cut and paste the message into a new email.

For information about how to view full headers in other email clients, see http://spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/19.html. Additionally, Outlook users may find the plugin at http://www.daesoft.com/freeware/spamsource/ useful.

How is my email filtered?

We filter email in a variety of ways, including using DNSBLs, rejecting mail based on particular content and/or addresses of known spammers, and by using several methods to tag email as likely-spam. Additionally, we filter for viruses. For more information, see http://cms.simons-rock.edu/spam.html.

So do you read all my email?

Absolutely not! We do not read any email without permission (unless we are under legal obligation, etc. to do so).

I think legitimate email is being blocked. What should I do?

We try not to block legitimate email, but from time to time it may happen. Please send as much information as you have to spam, and we'll do our best to make sure that it doesn't happen again.

How can I make use of the spam tagging?

Making use of a program called spamassassin, all messages delivered to simons-rock.edu addresses are tagged with a header which indicates a calculated likelihood that the message is spam. As these messages aren't blocked (because doing so might block some non-spam as well), it's up to you and your mail client to decide what to do with these tags.

You can create a spam folder and, by making use of filtering rules, have all of these tagged messages sent to the spam folder/mailbox, rather than be listed in your normal list of incoming mail. You'll still have to look through this folder on occasion to make sure that legitimate mail isn't making its way there, but it should cut down on the amount of spam you have to see on a daily basis. (Also, if you send email to spam when messages are being wrongly marked we can hopefully improve the tagging.)

Using Webmail?

1. Click on Folders from the top.
2. Enter a folder name (spam) under Create Folder and click Create.
3. Click Options from the top, then Message Filters.
4. Click on New and select Header from the Match: pull-down menu.
5. Type X-Spam-Flag: YES in the Contains: text field.
6. Select the spam folder from the Move to: pull-down menu and Submit.
7. Click the Save button.

Using pine?

1. Type M(ain Menu), then S(etup), then R(ules), then F(ilters), then Enter.
2. Page down one screen and use the arrows to select Add Extra Headers. Hit Enter.
3. Type in X-Spam-Flag. Hit Enter twice and type in YES.
4. Page down (roughly four screens) to Filter Action and select Folder List.
5. Type in the name you wish to use for your spam folder (for example, spam).
6. Type E(xit), saving changes when prompted, and E(xit) again.

Using OS X Mail?

1. Select New Mailbox... from the Mail menu.
2. Type in a mailbox name (for example, spam).
3. Select Preferences... from the Mail menu.
4. Click on the Rules icon (top right) and then the Add Rule button.
5. Type in spam for the description.
6. Pull down the menu which reads From and select Edit Header List....
7. Enter X-Spam-Flag in the Header: text field.
8. Click Add Header and then OK.
9. Pull down the menu again and select the new X-Spam-Flag option.
10. Type YES in the text field (full line: X-Spam-Flag Contains YES).
11. Select spam from the No mailbox selected pull-down menu.
12. Click OK and close the Preferences window.

Using Mozilla?

1. Select New and then Folder... from the File menu.
2. Enter a folder name (for example, spam).
3. Select Message Filters... from the Tools menu.
4. Click the New... button.
5. Type spam in the Filter name: text field.
6. Pull down the menu which reads Subject and select Customize....
7. Type X-Spam-Flag, and then click Add and then OK.
8. Pull down the menu again and select the new X-Spam-Flag option.
9. Type YES is the text field (full line: X-Spam-Flag Contains YES).
10. Select spam from the pull-down menu to the right of Move to folder.
11. Click OK and close the Message Filters window.

Using Kmail?

1. Select Create from the Folder menu.
2. Enter a folder name (for example, spam and click OK.
3. Select Configure Filters... from the Settings menu.
4. Click on the New Filter button (left corner).
5. Click on the Rename button and type spam.
6. Type X-Spam-Flag in the left text box under Filter Criteria.
7. Type YES in the right text box (full line: X-Spam-Flag contains YES.
8. Under Filter Actions, select move to folder and spam from the pull-down menus.
9. Click Apply and close the window.

How do I use the Junk Mail filtering in OS X Mail?

OS X Mail provides additional junk mail filtering using a statistical (Bayesian) algorithm. This filtering identifies certain messages as spam based on a statistical analysis of the words in the message. In order to use this filtering, you must first ``train'' the program by letting it know which of your mail you consider to be junk mail. You can do this by clicking on the Junk icon (top right) whenever you receive a message which you think is junk.

After a week or two of this training, OS X Mail should be able to identify messages as spam automatically, just as you would do manually. Go to Junk Mail from the Mail menu and select Automatic. After doing this, all current and new junk mail will be moved to a Junk mailbox. You should check this mailbox on occasion to make sure it isn't accidentally marking messages as junk that you would wish to receive. If it is doesn't seem to be doing a good job of filtering mail, you may need additional training. Pull down the Mail menu, select Junk Mail and then Training. Set this back to Automatic after additional training.

For more information, see http://www.csun.edu/itr/email/spam/OSXmailfilter.html.

I still get too much spam! What can I do?

Talk to us. We'd like to help find the spam filtering solution that's right for you.