Blocking Spam

Solving the Spam Problem

Spam is a serious problem at Colorado State. Besides being hassle for everyone who receives it, spam wastes valuable computing resources and compromises the University's network security.

To ease the burden of spam, Academic Computing and Networking Services (ACNS) provides the following services:

  • Automatic Gateway Blocklisting
  • Sender DNS Lookup
  • Proofpoint Protection Server (spamcanner)

Automatic Gateway Blocklisting

The ACNS email gateway identifies and automatically blocklists incoming mail servers attempting to send large quantities of messages to invalid email addresses.

Sender DNS Lookup

ACNS email servers perform DNS lookups on all incoming mail to ensure that each message contains a valid sender and that each message comes from a valid email server.

Proofpoint Protection Server (spamcanner)

The Proofpoint Protection Server is ACNS's primary line of defense against both spam and email viruses. Proofpoint identifies potential spam by performing a series of tests on all incoming mail. Messages identified as viruses will be deleted completely, while the following three options are available for spam:

  • Quarantine detected spam mail and tag subject, safe mail pass through - Messages identified as potential spam will be placed in a Personal Quarantine and will not be delivered to your inbox. Each day at 3:00 AM, Proofpoint will send an End User Digest, which is a single email message containing a list of messages in your Personal Quarantine.
  • Tag messages detected as spam and pass on to recipient - All messages will be delivered to your inbox. Messages identified as potential spam will be marked with the word "SPAM" followed by a Proofpoint score at the beginning of the subject line. For example, a potential spam message will have a subject similar to this: [SPAM: 67] Online Casino!
  • Pass messages through - All messages, including those identified as potential spam, will be delivered to your inbox.

The default option for all accounts is the Quarantine detected spam mail and tag subject, safe mail pass through option. To select a different option, click the Manage My Account link from an End User Digest, and then click the Profile button in the lower left-hand corner of the page.

End User Digest

With the Quarantine detected spam mail and tag subject, safe mail pass through option selected, Proofpoint will send an End User Digest each day at 3:00 AM from the address spamcanner@colostate.edu. This End User Digest contains a list of new potential spam messages placed in your Personal Quarantine since the last End User Digest.

For each message in your Personal Quarantine, the End User Digest will provide you with the sender's address, the subject, and the received date/time of the message as well as a means for releasing the message to your inbox and/or adding the sender's address to your Safe Senders List.

The End User Digest will also provide you will the following options:

  • Request New End User Digest - Clicking this link will tell Proofpoint to send a new End User Digest containing a list of new potential spam messages placed in your Personal Quarantine since the last End User Digest and up to the minute that you request the new End User Digest.
  • Request Safe/Blocked Senders List - Clicking this link will tell Proofpoint to send you an email message containing both a list of addresses in your Safe Senders List and a list of addresses in your Blocked Senders List.
  • Manage My Account - Clicking this link will take you to Proofpoint's Manage My Account Web page.
  • Help - Clicking this link will take you to an online help document created by Proofpoint.

Personal Quarantine

With the Quarantine detected spam mail and tag subject, safe mail pass through option selected, messages identified as potential spam will be placed in a Personal Quarantine and will not be delivered to your inbox. Each day at 3:00 AM, Proofpoint will send an End User Digest, which is a single email message containing a list of messages in your Personal Quarantine. Individual messages will remain in your Personal Quarantine for 14 days, at which point they will be automatically deleted.

Manage My Account

The Manage My Account Web page allows you to make several personal Proofpoint changes from a single place. Currently, the only way to access the Manage My Account Web page is by clicking the Manage My Account link in an End User Digest. Below are some of the options available in Manage My Account:

  • Click the Profile button in the lower left-hand corner then click Settings to:
    • Toggle whether or not you wish to receive an End User Digest automatically at 3:00 AM
    • Toggle whether or not you wish to receive an End User Digest when your Personal Quarantine is empty
    • Select your Proofpoint option (policy)
  • Click the Profile button in the lower left-hand corner then on Account to view your email aliases, if you have any. You cannot make changes to this list.
  • Click the Lists button in the lower left-hand corner then on Account to view and make changes to your personal Safe Senders List and/or your Blocked Senders List

Safe Senders List

Addresses in this list will never be identified as potential spam by Proofpoint and will always be delivered to your inbox.

Blocked Senders List

Addresses in this list will always be blocked by Proofpoint and will never be delivered to your inbox.