| Spam Email Filter
The Spam Email filter automatically eliminates "junk" e-mail
or "Spam" from each users mailbox, protecting workers from unwanted
distractions and interruptions. With the ever-increasing amount
of unsolicited e-mail arriving daily, protection is an important
means of saving time and staying focused on important work at
hand.
As email passes through the mail routers, our Spam Email filter
automatically scans inbound e-mail and separates out any Spam
found.
The Spam Email filter is a system that we has developed in
house. Spam is filtered in a multi-step process. The first step
is a collection of millions of “bait” e-mail addresses. These
e-mail addresses are used to actively look for Spam. Spam is
captured and run through a process in which a fingerprint is
created and added to a master database for each message.
Next, as each new customer e-mail message enters the
our network, it is fingerprinted and cross-reference
in the database to see if there is a match. If there
is a match, the message is marked as Spam. If there
is no match, the message proceeds to the next step in
which it is run through a series of tests where different
aspects of the message including the header, subject,
and content of the message are analyzed. These tests
give the message a score that in turn determines if
the message is Spam. Spam messages are fingerprinted
and added to the database. Clean messages are queued
for delivery to the client. This process, on average,
takes less than a second to perform.
Administrators have many options in regards to the
filtered Spam:
- Spam Tank: With the most popular option
being the SpamTank, Spam is held in a user level quarantine
on the Global Gateway or the Local Messaging Router. As Spam
is identified, temporary junk e-mail boxes are created for
each user. Users are notified that they have junk e-mail on
the server and are given a link to a web-based control panel
where they can check it. The administrator sets the notification
interval. Spam is held in this user level quarantine for 30
days before it is deleted.
- Redirection: This option allows
administrators to redirect all Spam to a single e-mail
address. For example, Spam@yourcompany.com
- X-Header: This option allows administrators
to insert an x-header. Rules can be written on the
destination mail server to reroute mail via the x-header
variable.
- Subject Line Modification: This
option allows administrators to modify the subject
line of Spam messages. For example, the word JUNK
or SPAM could be inserted before the subject so that
the individual users could easily identify Spam messages.
Spam Filter Benefits:
- Proprietary filtering process catches 98% of Spam
- .00001% false positive rate
- Automatic filtering with no maintenance headaches
- Reduces the time-distraction of clearing out unwanted
e-mail
- Far less expensive than maintaining own onsite spam filter
system
- Implementation in minutes with a simple change in
DNS configuration
- Reduced load on IT staff and mail servers
Q): How do you know which messages are spam?
A): Our junk email filter is a system that
we have developed in house. We filter spam in a three-step process.
First we use what we call "bait" email addresses. We have hundreds
of email addresses that we use to actively look for spam. We
take those spam messages and run them through a process that
we've created where we create a fingerprint for each message.
Those fingerprints are added to our database.
Secondly, when new email enters our network, we fingerprint
each message and cross reference our database to see if there
is a match. If there is a match, the message is marked as spam.
If there is no match, we then run the message through
a series of test in which we look at different aspects
of the message including the header, subject, and content
of the message. These tests give the message a score
and if that score hits a certain threshold, we mark
that message as spam.
This whole process takes less than a second to perform.
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