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Preventing Spam: Frequently Asked QuestionsWhy wasn't the existing spam service working? How does the new spam service work? What about the junk mail filter in my e-mail program? What is a "false positive" and how does it affect me? Which e-mail messages will not be delivered? Based on my role and/or what I do, should I opt out of the spam filtration service? If I choose to use the new spam service now, can I change my mind later? Why am I still receiving spam? What do I do if I think there is a mistake with the spam filter? Is there a way to train the new filters? I don't use Thunderbird, Outlook, or Mac Mail ---- can I still use the new spam service? Will my Admin NetID be enrolled automatically in the new spam service? If I check my e-mail at home, will my mail still be filtered?
Why wasn't the existing spam service working? The existing spam service was, and still is, working. For at least the last year, we have been dropping between 300,000 and 400,000 spam messages per day, but are aware, based on analysis and user complaints, that many more are delivered. This is why we've moved forward to increase the level of spam protection. For the existing spam service, Georgetown subscribes to a set of block lists provided by SpamHaus. SpamHaus maintains lists that contain the IP addresses (or computer addresses) of known spammers. When a new message comes into the Georgetown e-mail system, we compare the IP address of the sender against the IP addresses on the lists from SpamHaus. If there is a match, indicating that the e-mail originated from a spammer, we do not accept the message. The system sends an auto-response to the sender, which states that the e-mail system will not accept e-mail from anyone who is listed on the SpamHaus block list. The sender will be referred to a web page with instructions on how to be removed from the SpamHaus block list. The intended Georgetown recipient does not receive the e-mail, and the intended recipient is not notified that an e-mail message was attempted to be delivered. This service affects ALL messages sent to @georgetown.edu e-mail addresses, including mail forwarded to other ISPs (such as Yahoo! or Hotmail) and mail routed for alumni as part of the "e-mail forwarding for life" service. This service will continue to remain in place and work in tandem with the new spam service. Similarly, Georgetown's current anti-virus software, MIMEDefang, will continue to remain in place.
How does the new spam service work? The new spam software from IronPort uses many different pieces of information to rate how likely it is for a message to be spam. Messages that are identified as spam are dropped and not delivered to your inbox. The software does this in two steps: First, the software marks how likely it is for an email to be spam. Using information such as sender reputation, message content, message context and other factors, the new service scores emails as either:
After marking the message, the software sends the messages through a filter, and any email that is marked "positive" as spam is dropped (not delivered). If a message is dropped, neither the sender or nor the intended recipient of the email will be notified. Any message not marked as spam "positive" will be delivered to your mail box. You can set up filters in your e-mail program to automatically move e-mail messages marked as "suspect" from your inbox to another mail folder.
What about the junk filter in my e-mail program? All our recommended programs (Thunderbird, Outlook, and Mac Mail) have built-in junk filters. These programs help identify and sort junk email out of your inbox. The new GUMail Ironport filters are being put in place to cut down on the amount of junk mail that gets to your inbox in the first place. So think of it as two layers of spam protection --- you can use your e-mail program's built-in junk filter to catch any spam that the new GUMail filters may have missed. For instructions on how to set up junk filters in the above mentioned e-mail programs, go to the preventing spam web page.
What is a "false positive" and how does it affect me? When spam software identifies a piece of e-mail as spam, even though you do not consider the e-mail to be spam, it is called a false positive. It probably only takes you a single glance at an e-mail message to identify it as spam. However, it's difficult to automate that process. The IronPort software attempts to overcome false positives by using many characteristics associated with e-mail to judge how likely it is that an e-mail is spam. During the two-month long spam service trial at Georgetown, there was only a very small incidence of false positives (less than 1%), and IronPort has been noted to have very few false positives compared with other solutions. As a result of the way the service works, however, UIS cannot quantify or predict the percentage of false positives. We are providing a way to opt out of this service if you would prefer to not increase the spam filtration for your mail.
Which e-mail messages will not be delivered? The e-mail system works by dropping ALL messages that are rated as positive spam. Since UIS neither keeps nor delivers these messages, they cannot be recovered.
Based on my role and/or what I do, should I opt out of the spam filtration service? Based on Georgetown's two-month trial of the service, the new spam service should integrate well with how most people at Georgetown use e-mail. If you are concerned with the service's small incidence of false positives, ask yourself the following questions to determine if you should opt out of the service:
If you answered yes to both questions, you may consider opting out of the spam service and elect to switch to spam tagging. If you decide to make this switch, you can use the client to filter messages marked as "suspect" and "positive" into specified folders for review prior to deleting them. If you forward your mail to another e-mail provider or system, you cannot opt out of the service.
If I choose to use the new spam service now, can I change my mind later? Yes, you can switch out of or into the new spam filtration service at anytime. Click here for instructions on how to opt out of the spam filtration service. To opt back in to the spam filtration service, simply set your primary delivery location to go to GUMail. However, if you forward your mail to another e-mail provider or system, you cannot opt out of the service.
Because of the way we have implemented spam-filtering technology, it is not currently possible to opt-out of spam filtering if you have your
Why I am I still receiving spam? No spam filter is 100% accurate. As you increase the aggressiveness of a spam filter, you're also likely to increase the number of false positives associated with the solution. Georgetown has chosen a solution that we believe balances the need for effective spam filtration with your need for a very low false positive rate. There are also additional steps you can take to maximize your spam filtration:
What do I do if I think there is a mistake with the spam filter? If you feel the spam service is mistakenly identifying your important e-mail messages as spam, you may consider opting out of the spam service and elect to switch to spam tagging.
Is there a way to train the new filters? The new GUMail spam service is updated every 15 minutes with information from IronPort to better identify and filter out spam. Individual users are not able to train the filters, but you can train the junk filter built into your e-mail program.
I don't use Thunderbird, Outlook, or Mac Mail ---- can I still use the new spam service? The new spam service drops e-mail messages that are rated highly likely to be spam, and inserts a "suspect" line tag in any e-mail messages that are potentially likely to be spam. So, no matter which e-mail client you use, e-mail messages rated positive for spam will be dropped before they get to your inbox. If your e-mail client has the ability to set up rules and filters, you will be able to further filter out the suspect spam.
If you are using an e-mail client other than the ones mentioned above, you need the ability to search in the e-mail header for the tags "X-GU-Spam: Suspect" and "X-GU-Spam: Positive." Once you've set that up, instruct your e-mail program to automatically move those messages that meet that criteria to the Junk mail folder.
Will my Admin NetID be enrolled automatically in the new spam service? Yes. However, if you determine that you would prefer the Admin NetID to not be pre-filtered for spam, you can opt out of the service.
If I check my e-mail at home, will my mail still be filtered? Regardless of where you check e-mail, the spam filter will always drop the messages that were marked "positive" for spam. If you use GUWebMail to check messages at home, e-mails that are marked as "suspect" will still be delivered to your inbox. You can delete those messages, move them into the Junk folder from GUWebMail, or, if you wait, the next time you log into your e-mail client they will automatically be moved into your Junk folder if you set up a filter. If you use Thunderbird, Outlook, or Mac Mail to check messages from home, go ahead and set a filter on the machine.
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