ITS Spam Initiatives
ITS' servers process more than 1.5 million incoming e-mail messages
on a typical day. It is estimated that as much as 75 percent of these
messages are spam. Add to that a growing number of viruses and you begin
to understand the scope of the problems that unchecked e-mail could pose
to a network like CU-Boulder's.
One of the most effective ways of limiting spread of spam is to prevent
its entry into a network of computers like the university's. For some
time ITS has been hosting a number of programs that help weed out spam.
But spammers tactics are continuously evolving which makes the job of
detection a full-time occupation. While no solution guarantees that all
spam will be removed from e-mail with 100 percent accuracy ITS is always
on the lookout for new methods to more accurately deliver legitimate
mail by minimizing false-positives (i.e. e-mails incorrectly tagged as
potential-spam). That's why ITS uses some of the
latest technology from Barracuda Networks for handling spam.
The Barracuda appliances use an extensive collection of rules to determine
a message's likelihood of being spam. In fact, our testing has shown
that fewer than 1% of messages are incorrectly flagged as spam. Messages
with a mid-range score are flagged as Potential Spam. Messages with a
very high score are blocked entirely. For more about this system, visit
Marking Potential Spam.
Spam Filtering for CULink and Other ITS E-mail Servers
For anyone who uses CULink or a different ITS e-mail
server such as spot.colorado.edu or rintintin.colorado.edu,
the filtering process can be done with e-mail client based filters found
in Outlook, Apple Mail, or the CULink web client. For help setting up
filters using supported e-mail clients, go to the filter
how-to page.
Do you have more questions about spam at CU-Boulder? Go to the
Frequently Asked Questions page.
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