ROHAN Academic Computing

Technical Briefs

ROHAN help Files

SPAM filtering on ROHAN

SPAM is uninvited, frequently annoying, unsolicited Email (also known as unsolicited commercial Email) sent to you by someone you don't know. The term, SPAM, comes from a Monty Python SPAM Sketch where the word "spam" is used with increasing freqency as the skit continues, very much like the way SPAM increases in your mailbox.

ROHAN is using SpamAssassin, a mail filter, to detect SPAM as of August 12, 2002. Using a rule based scoring system, SpamAssassin makes a wide range of heuristic tests on mail headers and body text (i.e. looking for common phrases or coding errors). The ROHAN System Manager has set the test scoring to 9 for identification as SPAM. This free and open source software utilizes distributed databases from Razor and SpamCop.

Email messages identified as SPAM are not deleted from your ROHAN account. They are only marked with ****SPAM**** on the Subject: line. Occasionally an Email message is falsely marked as ****SPAM**** by the SpamAssassin program. A white list is being maintained to reduce this false SPAM detection.

Eudora, Outlook Express, and procmail Filters

ROHAN Email account users can make use of the SPAM detection by using filters in the POP mail programs (Eudora or Outlook Express) or with procmail. Note: While Webmail uses POP, it doesn't offer filters.

Filters will allow SPAM to be either discarded immediately or filed away in another (previously created) mailbox to review later. Be sure to have your "SPAM" filter listed last in your filter list, so it won't cause a problem for your other filters. Below is "How to create" these filters for Eudora, Outlook Express, and procmail:

Eudora Filter:

Windows - Review | Macintosh - Trash | Macintosh - Review

Eudora Windows - Discard to the Trash mailbox:

With Eudora open, move to the Tools menu and select the Filters option.
Click on the NEW button in the lower left of the Filters window and be sure there is a check in the box for Incoming under MATCH.
At the Header box, click the down arrow and select "SUBJECT:"
Tab down to the box adjacent to the first modifier "CONTAINS", and type: ****SPAM****
Under ACTIONS, click on the first buttton with "NONE" and select "TRANSFER TO"
An adjacent button is displayed with "In" for your In Box. Click on the button and select your destination mailbox; Choose your TRASH mailbox.
Close the Filters window by clicking on the Close box and click the SAVE button when prompted to save your changes to filters.
Now all incoming messages with ****SPAM**** in the Subject line will automatically transfer to your Trash mailbox, where you can delete them using the Empty Trash command.

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Eudora Windows - Using a previously created "SPAM" mailbox for review:

With Eudora open, move to the Tools menuand select the Filters option.
Click on the NEW button in the lower left of the Filters window and be sure there is a check in the box for Incoming under MATCH.
At the Header box, click the down arrow and select "SUBJECT:"
Tab down to the box adjacent to the first modifier "CONTAINS", and type: ****SPAM****
Under ACTIONS, click on the first buttton with "NONE" and select "TRANSFER TO"
An adjacent button is displayed with "In" for your In Box. Click on the button and select your destination mailbox; Choose your SPAM mailbox that you have created for the purpose of reviewing these messages.
Close the Filters window by clicking on the Close box and click the SAVE button when prompted to save your changes to filters.
Now all incoming messages with ****SPAM**** in the Subject line will automatically transfer to your SPAM mailbox, where you can review them before deleting or transferring to another mailbox.

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Eudora Macintosh - Discard to the Trash mailbox:

With Eudora open, move to the Windows menu and select the Filters option.
Click on the NEW button in the lower left of the Filters window and be sure there is a check in the box for Incoming under MATCHES.
At the highlighted Header box, click the down arrow and select "SUBJECT:"
Tab to the down to the box adjacent to the modifier "CONTAINS", and type: ****SPAM****
Under ACTIONS, click on the first buttton with "NONE" and select "TRANSFER TO"
A dialog box is displayed with instructions to go to the Transfer menu and select your destination mailbox; Choose your TRASH mailbox.
Close the Filters window by clicking on the Close box and click the SAVE button when prompted to save your changes to filters.
Now all incoming messages with ****SPAM**** in the Subject line will automatically transfer to your Trash mailbox, where you can delete them using the Empty Trash command.

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Eudora Macintosh - Using a previously created "SPAM" mailbox for review:

With Eudora open, move to the Windows menu and select the Filters option.
Click on the NEW button in the lower left of the Filters window and be sure there is a check in the box for Incoming under MATCHES.
At the highlighted Header box, click the down arrow and select "SUBJECT:"
Tab to the down to the box adjacent to the modifier "CONTAINS", and type: ****SPAM****
Under ACTIONS, click on the first buttton with "NONE" and select "TRANSFER TO"
A dialog box is displayed with instructions to go to the Transfer menu and select your destination mailbox; Choose your SPAM mailbox that you have created for the purpose of reviewing these messages.
Close the Filters window by clicking on the Close box and click the SAVE button when prompted to save your changes to filters.
Now all incoming messages with ****SPAM**** in the Subject line will automatically transfer to your SPAM mailbox, where you can review them before deleting or transferring to another mailbox.

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Outlook Express Filter

Windows - Review | Macintosh - Trash | Macintosh - Review

Outlook Express Windows - Discard immediately:

With Outlook Express open, move to the Tools menu and select the Message Rules option, then Mail.
Click on the NEW button in the upper right of the Message Rules window and the New Mail Rule window is displayed.
Respond to 1.) Select the Conditions for your rule.

Click the box adjacent to "Where Subject line contains specific words".

Respond to 2.) Select the Actions for your rule.

Click the box adjacent to "Delete it".

Respond to 3.) Rule Description - Click on highlighted words to edit.

Click the highlighted words and the Type Specific Words window will display.
Type: ****SPAM****
Click the ADD button and then click the OK button.

Respond to 4.) Name of the rule.

Highlight the words (New Mail Rule#1) and type: SPAM Delete and click the OK button.

When the Message Rules window is displayed, click the OK button.
Now all incoming messages with ****SPAM**** in the Subject line will automatically be deleted.

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Outlook Express Windows - Using a previously created "SPAM" folder for review:

With Outlook Express open, move to the Tools menu and select the Message Rules option, then Mail.
Click on the NEW button in the upper right of the Message Rules window and the New Mail Rule window is displayed.
Respond to 1.) Select the Conditions for your rule.

Click the box adjacent to "Where Subject line contains specific words".

Respond to 2.) Select the Actions for your rule.

Click the box adjacent to "Move it to the specific folder".

Respond to 3.) Rule Description - Click on highlighted words to edit.

Click the highlighted words (contains specific words)and the Type Specific Words window will display.
Type: ****SPAM****
Click the ADD button and then click the OK button.
Click the highlighted words (specific folder) and the Move window will display.
Select your SPAM folder and then click the OK button.

Respond to 4.) Name of the rule.

Highlight the words (New Mail Rule#1) and type: SPAM Review and click the OK button.

When the Message Rules window is displayed, click the OK button.
Now all incoming messages with ****SPAM**** in the Subject line will automatically transfer to your SPAM mailbox, where you can review them before deleting or transferring to another mailbox.

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Outlook Express Macintosh - Discard immediately:

With Outlook Express open, move to the Tools menu and select the Rules option.
When the Mail Rules window is displayed, be sure the Mail tab is the active tab.
Click on the NEW button in the upper left corner of the Mail Rules window and the Define Mail Rule window is displayed.

In the box labeled "Rule Name", type: SPAM Delete
Under IF, click the button adjacent to "Execute actions" and select "if all criteria are met"
On the "All messages" button, click and select "Subject".
With the adjacent button labeled "Contains", type in the highlighted box: ****SPAM****
Under THEN, click the button labeled "Change color" and select "Delete message".
Be sure the Enabled box in the lower left corner of the the Define Mail Rule window has a check inside, then click the OK button.

Now all incoming messages with ****SPAM**** in the Subject line will automatically be deleted.

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Outlook Express Macintosh - Using a previously created "SPAM" folder for review:

With Outlook Express open, move to the Tools menu and select the Rules option.
When the Mail Rules window is displayed, be sure the Mail tab is the active tab.
Click on the NEW button in the upper left corner of the Mail Rules window and the Define Mail Rule window is displayed.

In the box labeled "Rule Name", type: SPAM Delete
Under IF, click the button adjacent to "Execute actions" and select "if all criteria are met"
On the "All messages" button, click and select "Subject".
With the adjacent button labeled "Contains", type in the highlighted box: ****SPAM****
Under THEN, click the button labeled "Change color" and select "Move message".
Select the adjacent buttton labeled "Inbox" and select "Choose folder".
In the Choose Folder window displayed, select your SPAM folder and click the Choose button.
Be sure the Enabled box in the lower left corner of the the Define Mail Rule window has a check inside, then click the OK button.

Now all incoming messages with ****SPAM**** in the Subject line will automatically transfer to your SPAM mailbox, where you can review them before deleting or transferring to another mailbox.

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procmail Filter
Procmail can be used to filter your Eemail on ROHAN. Be sure that the .procmailrc file is located in your HOME directory. Only do this if you don't use POP (Eudora, Outlook Express, Webmail or Netscape) to read your email. Folders created by procmail can not be accessed via POP mail.
procmail - Discard immediately any email marked as SPAM by creating a .procmailrc file containing:
MAILDIR=$HOME/Mail

:0
* ^Subject:.****SPAM****
/dev/null
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procmail - Save SPAM in a seperate folder by creating a file named .procmailrc in your home directory containing:
MAILDIR=$HOME/Mail      

:0
* ^Subject:.****SPAM****
$MAILDIR/spam
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