How to reduce and block spam on mail accounts
We all hate spam! it has become a real problem, not only for those receiving it in thier mailbox, but also for those of us running servers and the backbone of the internet itself. At Digital Forest we have a number of tools for dealing with spam that can make you life a little easier...
Our systems are set up with a number of protection procedures and tools for dealing with spam:
1) Mail catch all accounts.
All mail addressed to anything@yourdomain.com other than ligitimate email addresses are bounced back to thier sender and are immediately deleted. This stops any mail sent to random addresses at your domain.
2) SMTP Authentication.
We require all our mailboxes to be authenticated by thier mail password before allowing mail to be sent through our SMTP servers. This is setup when creating the account in your outlook settings, and once set doesn't require any further user intervention. It does however stop mail from being sent on your account without your permission, or users sending mail from a non-legitimate email address.
3) Blocking
This is a sophisticated white list system which only allows approved email through.
1. Genuine E-mail is sent to you but our system blocks suspected spam messages.
2. A bounce message is sent to the sender telling them that this has happened, and will offer them the chance to be added to our whitelist so they can resend the message.
3. They follow a link in the bounced message which takes them to our white listing system where they can enter their details.
4. An e-mail will then be sent to them with a link they must click on which shows that they are sending from an address they have access to. This is what prevents spammers from using the system as they rarely use genuine e-mail addresses.
This is very effective at controlling spam but can also block some automated mails such as notifications etc.
4) Tagging
The tagging method will modify the E-mail message so ***SPAM*** is displayed in the subject line. This is useful if you want to review all E-mails to make sure no genuine messages have been caught. You can set up a rule in your email application to filter these into a folder for review or deletion.
Tagging example: Microsoft Outlook
You can also use E-mail clients such as Outlook to move tagged messages to a different folder so your inbox does not get cluttered:
1. Make a new Folder in outlook by clicking: File -> Folder -> New Folder. For this example, we will call the folder: SPAM.
2. Click: Tools -> Rules Wizard. Click NEW and select the following, and click Next:
Start from a blank rule
Check messages when they arrive
3. On the next page select the ‘with specific words in the subject’ option and enter in ***SPAM*** for the subject. Click Next
4. Lastly, choose 'move it to the specified folder' and select the SPAM folder you created earlier. Click finish.
Now all ***SPAM*** tagged messages will be moved to the SPAM folder.
Bare in mind that the above features apply to the whole domain, so the will affect all users.
All our spam and virus protection is offered fully inclusive on all our hosting accounts as we regard this high level of protection and service as a necessity rather than an option. Always check the additional charges for this level of spam and virus control on other hosting accounts!
Article Date: 2nd November 2006 |
