Wednesday, October 18, 2006

"Mark as spam" feature

The updated Webmail interface has a new mark as spam feature. The question is: What exactly does this do?

When you use the mark as spam feature, the selected message(s) are filed in a folder named _SPAM. Every hour, any messages in this folder are automatically removed and sent to our anti-spam provider as ones that "slipped through the system". Even though 79% of the mail sent to Hope this month has been identified as spam and blocked (see the post below for more details), obvoiusly some does still get through. By reporting such messages, they can modify their scanning techniques in hopes of even better results in the future.

The mark as spam feature does not block future messages from that specific e-mail address. To do this, you need to log in to the anti-spam system and enter the address there. For instructions on how to do this, click on Tips & Techniques to the left and select Email Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus System.

posted by Jeff Pestun at 11:47 AM   

Monday, October 16, 2006

Spam update

Have you noticed more spam messages in your Inbox lately? Many users have called asking if we're still using spam detection software, and if so why it's not catching more. The answer lies in the numbers.

Over the past 3 months, the volume of messages (both spam and non-spam) sent to Hope College accounts has increased at an uprecedented rate:
- August 2006 = 1,804,215 messages
- September 2006 = 2,452,659 messages
- October 2006 = 3,204,044 messages*
* projection based on stats through 10/15/2006

However, the system has kept up, identifying and blocking more spam messages than ever before:
- August 2006 = 1,357,349 spams blocked (75% of total)
- September 2006 = 1,816,951 spams blocked (74% of total)
- October 2006 = 2,516,066 spams blocked* (79% of total*)
* projection based on stats through 10/15/2006

What this means is that even though only 21% of the mail sent to Hope is getting through, in October we'll receive nearly 688,000 messages as opposed to under 447,000 is August. And there's certainly some "extra" spam in those 241,000 additional messages.

But the numbers don't change the fact that spam is more annoying and time-consuming than ever. So what is CIT doing to make the system better? Well, starting October 18 you'll be able to report your spam in Webmail. Every user will have an folder called _SPAM to file their unwanted messages in. Each day, we'll collect the messages in this folder and report them to the company that provides our anti-spam service. This will not only let them know how much spam their system is missing, but they'll also be able to analyze the messages that they receive in order to make the system better.

posted by Jeff Pestun at 10:48 AM   

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