99% Effective Spam Screen
John Phillips
poster. With 543 spams, 5 spams have cleared the screen.
I have added some exchanges on the end.
The following is a simplified version of the screen using Outlook
rules:
1. Check all messages from the address book list, move them to the In
Box and stop processing.
Comment: I simply selected every address in my Outlook address book
and put them in the "White List". Stop processing means do not perform
any more rules checks on the mail that satisfies this rule. Thus any
mail from a white list address goes to the In Box even if it has html,
keywords, etc. Mail not from a white list address goes to rule 2.
2. Check all messages from the (Outlook) junk senders list, move them
to Spam Box, and stop processing.
Comment; This is the Outlook list that you send mail addresses to when
you right click on a piece of mail and enter it to the list. My junk
and adult lists are the same. Of course, you have to set up a Spam
Box.
The Outlook feature also does some key word checking. This list is
located in a file that I can't locate just now but I edited this list
and used the contents below because I wanted to control the keywords.
3. Check all messages with Yahoo in the from address, move them. to
the Spam Box and stop processing.
Comment: I repeat this rule for Hotmail, Excite, and Btamail, that are
on the top of the SpamCop list.
4. Check for messages with "html" in the message header, move them to
the Spam Box, and stop processing.
Comment: rarely does mail from anyone I correspond with include html.
I repeat this rule for the keyword "mixed".
5. Check for keywords in the message body, move them to the Spam Box
and stop processing.
6. Check for keywords in the message subject, move them to the Spam
Box and stop processing.
Comment: obviously this is essentially the last line of defense and
these lists take a bit of tuning for words related to junk and porn. A
good start can be made by looking at the spam you have received.
7. Check for messages from my mailing account that has my name in the
To Box, move to In Box and stop processing
8. Move all messages to the Spam Box.
Comment: The last two steps are intended to catch mail that has my
address as a bcc. Thus, any message that is from my account but
doesn't have my address in the To Box must qualify. Actually, I am
screening four mail accounts so that I have to have additional rules
7a, 7b, and 7c, one for each additional account.
Additional Comments:
Note that I suggest forwarding the mail to an intermediate Spam Box
before deleting so it can be easily viewed and exceptions created if
necessary. The exceptions can be added to the 'White List" or special
exceptions created. The most difficult to exempt messages are the
auto-ack or error messages. I also discovered a lot of lists that I
had opted in over the years.
I have actually set up folders for each class of spam eg. Yahoo, html,
keyword, and etc. This allowed me to initially troubleshoot and refine
the rules. If I were ever to close the loop and dump the spam to the
delete folder, and never review it, I have also set up auto-reply
message templates that say for example: "This server does not accept
mail from Yahoo in order to reduce the amount of junk mail that we
receive. If we have made an error.... please reply to this message and
explain the circumstances".
One loophole in the Outlook rules is that it doesn't allow you to
screen for multiple addresses in the To or CC boxes.
It is otherwise vulnerable to mail in text only and with your address
in the To or CC boxes which is not very common.
A major factor is the extent of your White List and keyword screen.
On Wed, 29 May 2002 19:30:12 GMT, "Mike Easter" <Mi...@ster.invalid>
wrote:
>"John Phillips"
>
>> The following is a simplified version of the screen using Outlook
>rules:
>
>I like those rules, but...
>
>> 2. Check all messages from the (Outlook) junk senders list, move them
>to Spam Box, and stop processing.
>>
>> Comment; This is the Outlook list that you send mail addresses to when
>you right click on a piece of mail and enter it to the list. My junk and
>adult lists are the same. Of course, you have to set up a Spam Box.
>
>Do you find this rule really useful? That means the spammer would
>repeat with the same From: addy. I would be curious about a test in
>which you sent such mail to its "own" spambox - to see if it is really
>doing any good. It seems that that list would become gargantuan,
>imposing a workload on the rule system, for very little if any reward.
>The other rules should make this rule pretty unnecessary anyway.
>
Mike,
I specifically set up the rule sequence to test this issue. The first
screen is the junk mail or black list. Of now 534 spam messages, 82
were picked up by this screen. Since I am screening four addresses,
some of the mails were directed to one address and I added the
originating address to the black list before the spam was received by
a second address. This list is though still of some real benefit.
I also initially sent an automatic bounce message reply to each
spammer "from" address. About 50% returned with no such address
meaning that the domain existed but the user did not. I received
composed replies to several bounces. The remainder went to either real
addresses or phony domains, probably mostly the latter. As a result,
there may be at least some benefit in sending bounces via MailWasher
for example assuming that it does not have a characteristic signature.
Regards,
John Phillips
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
http://www.slipstick.com/rules/junkmail.htm
--
Milly Staples [MVP-Outlook]
Post replies only to the news group - do not send me copies, they will be
deleted.
"John Phillips" <Thi...@bogusaddress.com> wrote in message
news:44vafu8b36af49g05...@4ax.com...