How to filter spam sent to your email account on NetMusician

From NetMusician Wiki

last updated: March 19, 2005

Contents 1 Methodology 2 Viruses 3 How to move email flagged as possible spam to a "Junk Email" folder 3.1 Mac OS X Mail (Macintosh) 3.2 Mozilla Thunderbird (Macintosh/Windows/Linux) 3.3 Microsoft Entourage (Macintosh) 3.4 Microsoft Outlook Express (Windows) 3.5 NetMusician Webmail (Macintosh/Windows/Linux) 4 What should I do if I'm still seeing junk email messages in my Inbox? 5 What should I do if I'm seeing legitimate email messages in my Junk folder?

Methodology

All mail to your email account on the NetMusician server is put through a series of tests to determine whether or not the message came from a legitimate source. Each message is "ranked", and messages that exceed the spam threshold rank of 5 are flagged as possible spam messages. The spam flag is embedded within the headers of each email message.

Email headers are pieces of information attached to each email message you send and receive, including such things as the "To:", "From:", "Subject:", and "Date:" lines. Full email headers, however, are usually hidden from view, and also include information about which routing points the message traveled through on its journey from sender to recipient. It is within these full email headers that you will find the spam flag.

Here are some examples of how the spam flag may read in email messages you receive:

Not spam:
Spam:

You can view your email headers to check for the spam flag, although it is not necessary that you do so. The steps required to view the full headers differ depending on which email program you are using. For more information about full headers and how to view them, you can read the documentation and follow the appropriate links in [this] IU Knowledge Base article. (Note: Some of the information is specific to IU.)

Viruses

Email sent to your account on NetMusician is also scanned for viruses. Email that is found to contain a virus is not delivered to your email account. Please note that while this feature will keep most viruses from appearing in your inbox, if you use Microsoft Windows we strongly advise that you use anti-virus software such as Norton Antivirus, update your virus definitions frequently, and scan your computer at regular intervals.

How to move email flagged as possible spam to a "Junk Email" folder

Since all spam detection software is imperfect, you should not simply trust it to always flag spam messages correctly and have it automatically delete spam messages for you. If you do, you run the risk of having legitimate email messages be flagged as spam, and missing important email. However, you can have possible spam messages be moved automatically to a different folder, such as a folder labeled "Junk", so that you do not have to see or deal with spam messages on a day-to-day basis. Periodically, you should go through this folder and ensure that there are no legitimate messages which have been placed in this folder. If you ever find a legitimate message in your junk folder, please see the section What do I do if I'm seeing legitimate email messages in my junk folder? below. However, this is a relatively rare occurrence. After doing a very quick glance through your listing of junk messages, you should periodically delete messages which have accumulated in this folder.

The instructions for moving possible spam messages to a junk email folder vary depending on which email program you are using. Instructions for several popular email programs are below; if your email program is not in the list below, please contact us.

• Mac OS X Mail
• Mozilla Thunderbird version 0.5 or later
• Microsoft Entourage
• Microsoft Outlook Express
• NetMusician Webmail

Mac OS X Mail (Macintosh)

Note: these instructions apply to the OS X Mail program included in Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther).

By default, Mac OS X Mail recognizes mail that has been flagged as junk. OS X Mail also performs its own junk email tests in addition to the tests performed by the NetMusician server. To ensure that OS X Mail is set to recognize junk email messages:

1. From the Mail menu, select Preferences... .
   
   
2. Click the Junk Mail icon and set the options in this section to the following (close the window when you are finished):
   
   Note: The box next to Trust Junk Mail headers set by your Internet Service Provider must be checked for Mail to recognize junk mail flagged by NetMusician.
   

To get to your Junk mailbox so that you can scan the messages there to be sure none are legitimate email, from the Mailbox menu, select Go To and then Junk.

Mozilla Thunderbird (Macintosh/Windows/Linux)

Note: Although the screenshots below were taken from the Mac OS X version of Thunderbird, the instructions also apply to the Windows version. To filter your mail as described below, you must use version 0.5 or later of this software.

1. You need to create a Junk mail folder if one doesn't already exist:
   
   
   1. From the File menu, select New and then Folder....
      
      
   2. In the "Name:" field, type an appropriate name for your junk folder, such as "Junk".
      
      
   3. From the pull-down menu under "Create as a subfolder of:", select your NetMusician email account. Then click OK.

      

      
      
2. From the Tools menu, select Message Filters....
   
   
3. From the pull-down menu next to "Filters for:", select your NetMusician email account, then click the New... button.
   
   
4. From the first pull-down menu below the text "For incoming mail that: Match all of the following/Match any of the following", select Customize....

   

   
   
5. In the "New message header:" field, type X-Spam-Flag and click Add, then click OK.

   

6. Set your mail filter options to the following (provide a name of your choosing next to "Filter name:" and make sure that, next to Move to folder:, you select the junk folder you created). Click OK when you are finished.

   

Thunderbird also performs its own junk email tests in addition to the tests performed by the NetMusician server. To enable Thunderbird's junk mail controls:

1. From the Tools menu, select Junk Mail Controls... .
   
   
2. Click the Settings tab, and under "Handling", set your options to match the following:

   

Microsoft Entourage (Macintosh)

1. You need to create a Junk mail folder if one doesn't already exist. If a Junk mail folder already exists, skip to step 2:
   
   
   1. Click the Mail icon to display your Entourage email.

      

      
      
   2. Select your email account in the left pane, and then, from the File menu, select New and then Folder.
      
      
   3. Give your junk folder a title, such as "Junk".
      
      
2. From the Tools menu, select Rules.
   
   
3. Click the Mail (IMAP) tab (if your email account uses the POP protocol, click the Mail (POP) tab instead).
   
   
4. Click New.
   
   
5. Set your mail filter options to the following (next to "Rule name:", give the rule a name of your choosing, and make sure that you choose your junk folder, whatever you named it, in the appropriate place below). Click OK when you are finished:

   

Entourage also performs its own junk email tests in addition to the tests performed by the NetMusician server. To enable Entourage's junk mail options:

1. From the Tools menu, select Junk E-mail Protection... (Entourage 2004) or Junk Mail Filter... (Entourage v.X).
   
   
2. Set the options (which are self-explanatory) to your liking.

Microsoft Outlook Express (Windows)

Unfortunately, Outlook Express does not support filtering messages based on the spam flag set by NetMusician, nor does it include its own spam filter software. Because Microsoft updates Outlook Express so infrequently, it is difficult to speculate as to whether Outlook Express will eventually include these features. For Windows users, we recommend that you use an email program such as Mozilla Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook instead.

NetMusician Webmail (Macintosh/Windows/Linux)

1. Log into your NetMusician Webmail account here.
   
   
2. You must create a "Junk" folder to which you can have all spam sent; follow the steps below. If you already have a folder set up for this purpose, skip to step 3.
   
   
   1. Click the Folders link located at the top of the page.
      
      
   2. Below "Create Folder", enter a name for your Junk folder (e.g., Junk), then click Create.

      

      
      
3. Click the Options link located at the top of the page, then click Message Filters.
   
   
4. From the menu next to "What to Scan:", select All messages if you want the software to go through your current inbox and flag all the spam that's currently there, as well as filter all your incoming mail. Select Only unread messages if you want only new incoming messages to be filtered and sent to your junk folder.
   
   
5. Click New.
   
   
6. Set the options to the following, substituting your own junk email folder's name (which you created in step 2b above) for Junk below:

   

   
   
7. Click Submit.

What should I do if I'm still seeing junk email messages in my Inbox?

If nothing is being sent to your junk email folder, there is a good possibility that one or more of your junk mail settings is incorrect. Please verify the directions or contact us

If some messages are still not being flagged as spam (while others are being sent to your junk email folder), you can help "train" the junk email software on NetMusician by redirecting these spam messages to: spam@netmusician.org. The spam software on the server is constantly learning and adapting to new spam techniques. By redirecting your spam messages, you are helping to expedite the learning process.

Note that "redirecting" an email message is different than forwarding an email message. If your email program does not have a redirect function, you can instead forward messages to the spam address listed above. However, redirecting is a more effective means to train the email software on the server, as it does not alter the contents of the email message.

If your email software supports junk mail training (e.g. Mac OS X Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird), when you receive a spam message in your inbox, click on the junk email icon to help train your email software.

Please do not redirect or forward spam to any other netmusician.org email address other than the spam address listed above.

What should I do if I'm seeing legitimate email messages in my Junk folder?

Legitimate email messages that are flagged as spam are often called "false positives". It is just as important to help teach the spam software on the server about what is not spam in addition to what is spam. If you find a false positive email message, please redirect the message to: notspam@netmusician.org.

Note that "redirecting" an email message is different than forwarding an email message. If your email program does not have a redirect function, you can instead forward messages to the spam address listed above. However, redirecting is a more effective means to train the email software on the server, as it does not alter the contents of the email message.