Unwanted E-mail at Virginia Tech

Contents:

• Introduction
• Manage Unwanted E-mail
  • Try These Tactics
  • Create Your Own Filters to Block Specific Senders
  • Use the Virginia Tech Filtering System
• Prevent Unwanted E-mail
• Stop Sent Messages From Being Flagged as Unwanted E-mail

Introduction

The term "spam", or unwanted e-mail, refers to the unsolicited, blanket e-mail messages sent by companies and individuals in hopes of reaching a real person. If you respond directly to spam, you confirm that your e-mail address is legitimate, and you will continue to receive unwanted messages. Below, you will find guidance in managing and preventing receiving unwanted e-mail and stopping message you send from being flagged as spam.

Internet sites that have a history of sending large amounts of unwanted e-mail or viruses are blocked from sending e-mail into vt.edu through Virginia Tech's central mail servers or through the LISTSERV host. However, senders of spam can be very clever about routing spam through sites that also send wanted e-mail. Each site that Virginia Tech blocks somewhat diminishes the performance of your e-mail service; consequently, decisions to block sites are made conservatively. For a complete list of these sites, see Blocked E-mail Sites (http://www.computing.vt.edu/email_and_calendaring/blockedsites.html).

Virginia Tech also provides a spam filtering system that adds a header to incoming e-mail messages believed to be spam. You can configure your e-mail client to filter messages with the junk mail header to a separate folder.

While Virginia Tech has employed such measures to curb spam, there are several steps you can also take to stop and prevent unwanted e-mail. These include not unsubscribing from lists you did not ask to join, filtering your mail, and being careful about giving out your e-mail address on the Internet.

Sometimes legitimate e-mail messages that you send to others may be flagged as unwanted e-mail. Servers using spam filtering systems give scores to messages according to certain characteristics and will flag those with high scores as unwanted e-mail.

Manage Unwanted E-mail

Try These Tactics

• Do not unsubscribe from a mailing list that you did not ask to join. While most e-mail lists have instructions on how to unsubscribe at the bottom of the e-mail message, this will only verify that your e-mail address is valid and the spam will not likely stop. If you did subscribe to a mailing list or you know where they got your e-mail address, then go ahead and try unsubscribing.
• Send the e-mail administrator of the sending domain an e-mail message describing the situation. You can try this by using "postmaster" or "abuse" plus the domain for the e-mail address.
  Example: If the message came from bench3@xyz.com, you could try sending a note to:
  • postmaster@xyz.com
  • abuse@xyz.com
• Disable the message preview pane in your client and do not open any messages that you know are spam. Many messages contain image links and hidden URLs that point to a spammer's server, and opening or even previewing the message will let the spammer know that your e-mail address is valid. To disable the preview pane, follow the instuctions for your e-mail client listed below:
• Eudora 5: Go to Disabling the Preview Pane in Eudora 6/7 for Windows 2000/XP/Vista (http://answers.vt.edu/kb/entry/957/).
• Outlook 2000/2002: Go to Disabling the Preview Pane in Outlook 2003/2007 (http://answers.vt.edu/kb/entry/1808/).
• Outlook Express for Windows:
  1. From the View menu, select Layout.
  2. Clear the check from the Show Preview Pane check box.
  3. Click OK.
• Outlook Express for Mac OS: From the View menu, select Preview Pane.

Create E-mail Filters to Block Specific Senders

• Eudora:

  • Windows: Blocking or Filtering E-mail Messages from Specific Senders in Eudora 6/7.1 for Windows XP/Vista (http://answers.vt.edu/kb/entry/1794/)
  • Mac OS: Blocking or Filtering E-mail Messages from Specific Senders in Eudora 5.2/6.2.4 for Mac OS X (http://answers.vt.edu/kb/entry/1795/)
• Outlook Express:
  • Windows: Blocking or Filtering E-mail Messages from Specific Senders in Outlook Express 6 for Windows XP (http://answers.vt.edu/kb/entry/1346/) (http://answers.vt.edu/kb/entry/1802/)
• Outlook:
  • Windows: Blocking or Filtering E-mail from Specific Senders in Outlook 2003/2007 for Windows XP/Vista (http://answers.vt.edu/kb/entry/2428/)
    Note: There is also a built-in general Junkmail filter in Outlook 2000/2002. For configuration instructions, please refer to Enabling the Built-in Junk E-mail Filter in Outlook 2003/2007 for Windows XP/Vista.
    (http://answers.vt.edu/kb/entry/1793/)

Use Virginia Tech's Filtering System to Block General Junkmail

• Entourage: Filtering Unwanted E-mail in Entourage 2004/2008 Using VT Mail
• Eudora: Filtering Unwanted E-mail in Eudora 7.1 and Eudora 6.2 Using VT Mail (http://answers.vt.edu/kb/entry/2268/)
• Evolution: Filtering Unwanted E-mail in Evolution Using VT Mail (http://answers.vt.edu/kb/entry/2253/)
• Mac OS X Mail: Filtering Unwanted E-mail in OS X Mail for Mac OS X 10.4/10.5 Using VT Mail
• Outlook 2003/2007: Filtering Unwanted E-mail in Outlook 2003/2007 for Windows XP/Vista Using VT Mail
  
  Notes:
• If you forward your VT Mail account to a free mail service, such as Yahoo! or Hotmail, you will not be able to use the filtering system.
• Outlook Express and WebMail are not capable of filtering based on these headers. If you are using either of these clients you must change mail clients to use this service.

Prevent Unwanted E-mail

• Try not to give out your e-mail address on the Internet. The Customer Support Center (CSC/4Help) suggests you get a free e-mail account and use that e-mail address on Web sites. This way, that account will receive your junk e-mail.
• Be mindful when you are signing up or giving out your e-mail address for new accounts on different Web sites. Many of them have opt-out policies and you have to explicitly tell the site not to send you e-mail. Usually there are options during the sign up process that ask you if you want to receive e-mail. Be sure to read and select these options.

Stop Sent Messages From Being Flagged as Unwanted E-mail

Sometimes legitimate e-mail messages that you send to others may be flagged as unwanted e-mail. Servers using spam filtering systems give scores to messages according to certain characteristics and will flag those with high scores as unwanted e-mail. Following is a list of characteristics that can raise the score of your e-mail messages. You may make appropriate adjustments according to those that apply to your situation. Consult your e-mail client’s documentation, if needed.

Characteristics of e-mail messages that may be flagged as unwanted e-mail:

• Colored backgrounds
• Font and color changes in text, including the signature line
• Embedded image files in the body, including the signature line
• Embedded HTML or XML code
• References to Web sites, especially using multiple Web addresses (URLs)
• More than three entries in the "To:" line
• E-mail messages that have been forwarded multiple times
• Multiple attachments, especially with .exe extensions
• Web page attachments with file extensions of .asp, .htm, or .html
  Note: If sending just the link is insufficient, try dropping the file extension before sending. The recipient will have to choose a browser program to open it with, but it will go through most scanners this way.

For more information, refer to the SpamAssassin Web site to see examples of how elements in e-mail messages are often scored. This is not the actual list used on the Virginia Tech Mirapoint spam filters; however, it will give you a general idea of which characteristics trigger the spam filters.