Spam Filters and Tips for Keeping Email Organized and Secure

From ITS Wiki

There are a few of very simple “best practices” to follow that will keep your email organized and keep your information safe.

Regularly delete items from your Inbox and Sent Items. Then, be sure to empty your Deleted Items folder. All of these folders count toward your storage space. Keeping a check on them will help you to avoid getting a message indicated you are nearing or over your limits. For more information on keeping your Inbox organized, check out our ITS Helpdesk documentation page . If you are getting a lot of unwanted Junk email, you might want to set up a filter that will direct “spam” into a folder (that you can empty the contents of at your convenience). We sent the directions out a couple of months ago, but just in case it would be easier to click on them than search for them, here are the directions:

To set up at Spam filter (Microsoft Outlook 2010)

1. Open Outlook

2. Create a New Folder called SPAM under your Inbox.

1. Right click on your Inbox and choose "New folder" from the list.

2. In the Name: field type SPAM and click OK at the bottom.

3. Next, click on the Rules button and choose “Create Rule…”

4. Click the check box beside “Subject contains” and enter “[SPAM]” in the box to the right.

5. Click the check box beside “Move the item to folder:”

6. Another box will appear with a listing of your folders. Click the right arrow next to Inbox to see your sub folders and double click the folder name SPAM you created earlier.

7. Click OK, on the pop up box click the check box beside “Run this rule now on messages already in the current folder” and click OK to finish.

Note: Outlook's Junk Email is no longer necessary. All of your SPAM messages should be delivered to the SPAM folder and it is necessary to regularly clean out your SPAM folder. Failure to do so will slow down your connection and also reduce the amount of space you have available on the mail server.

To setup a Spam filter (Microsoft Outlook 2007)

1. Open Outlook

2. Create a New Folder called SPAM under your Inbox.

1. Right click on your Inbox and choose "New folder" from the list.

2. In the Name: field type SPAM and click OK at the bottom.

3. Next, go to Tools then click on “Rules and Alerts”

4. Create a new rule by clicking on the New button. Choose Start from a Blank Rule and select the "Check messages when they arrive" option. Then click Next.

5. On the "Which conditions do you want to check?" screen, scroll down the list and choose "with specific words in the message subject". Once that is checked you will see a hyperlink in the text area below.

6. Click on the hyperlink named "specific words" and when a new dialog box appears type in: [SPAM]

7. Next click the Add button and then Click OK. You can now click the Next button and move on to the next screen.

8. In the "What do you want to do with the message?" screen, Check "move it to a specified folder" option. When you click this you will see new text in your box near the bottom. In the text, click on the hyperlink “specified” A window should open showing the folders in your Inbox (you may have to click the + to expand your Inbox and see its subfolders). Select the SPAM folder as the "specified folder." Click OK.

9. Then select the Next button and click Next again (because you don't want to add any exceptions to this rule).

10. Make sure you select the "Run this rule on messages already in the Inbox" option and then click Finish. You can now click the OK button and you have successfully set-up your SPAM folder.

Note: Outlook's Junk Email is no longer necessary. All of your SPAM messages should be delivered to the SPAM folder and it is necessary to regularly clean out y our SPAM folder. Failure to do so will slow down your connection and also reduce the amount of space you have available on the mail server.

To set up a Spam filter (Entourage 2008)

1. Open Entourage

2. Click "Tools" and then choose "Rules..." from the bottom of the list.

3. Click the "New" and then "Mail (Exchange)" from the list.

4. In "Rule name:" box type SPAM.

5. Click "Add Criterion" then choose "Subject" and "Contains" from the drop downs and type "[SPAM]" into the box.

6. Click "Add Action" and choose "Move message" and your "SPAM" from drop downs. 7. Click OK

Just to reiterate the information Tyler Chelf sent you earlier this week regarding emails that ask you to reply with your login name or password:

1. ITS and CTL will never send bulk messages asking you for your login name or password via email. If we need your account information we will contact you in person or via the phone.

2. All correspondences and alerts provided on campus will come from a specific individual rather than a general group name. If you receive a message from “Admin Support Center” or “The Centre.Edu Team” you can be sure it is a scam, everything will come directly from either Tyler Chelf, Shane Wilson, Kristi Jenkins, Jami Powell, Lisa Curlis, Susan Kirkpatrick, or another member of the ITS or CTL staff.

3. For antivirus on campus we use Microsoft Forefront. This appears as a small green or orange circle near the clock in the bottom of your screen. If an application pops up and tells you there are viruses on your computer but is not Microsoft Forefront, it is most likely malware or a scam. In these cases it would be best to contact us for support rather than run the scan it is asking you to complete.

4. If you ever find yourself unsure if a message or application on your computer is legitimate, feel free to contact us. It only takes a second or two to answer your question, but an infection or password theft could take hours to clean up which is time you are unable to do work.