Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

September 27, 2002

Spam-handler coming Oct. 1

by Marie Mayer, Academic Information Technologies
Spam, that junk e-mail we all get, continues to grow. While stopping spam is nearly impossible, Academic Information Technologies (AIT) will implement on Oct. 1 a spam detection system to help you manage the problem.

Similar to caller ID service on your phone, a spam detection system can help you screen out unwanted e-mail. However, caller ID can't spot every unwanted phone call, and spam detection can't find every piece of unwanted e-mail. You choose how you use the information in managing your mail.

To assist you, AIT is installing a commercial spam-tagging product called PerlMX. The product searches mail for spam indicators -- for example, all capital letters in the subject line, extensive use of $ signs, no return address, and words like "opportunity" or "amazing" or suggestive words.

If the e-mail meets enough criteria, its subject line is modified to include [SPAM? along with a number of # signs. The more # signs, the higher the probability the e-mail is spam.

One common method of using the [SPAM? tag is to create mail filters to transfer suspected spam to one or more folders based on the probability flags. This keeps suspected spam separate from your regular e-mail.

Because legitimate mail sometimes can meet the criteria to be flagged as spam, you'll probably want to review some of the flagged mail before deleting or sending to the trash.

More details on spam detection and setting up mail filters can be found at http://www.ait.iastate.edu/showitem.php?id=18. For assistance, contact the Solution Center, 195 Durham Center, by e-mail at solution@iastate.edu or phone at 6-6000.