Spam, "Phishing", and your SSU Email Account
Have you ever received an email from a bank – that wasn't your bank,
asking you to log in? Or maybe it was your bank but they were threatening to
close your account if you do not log in with the included link? That is a tactic
called "Phishing" – a scam involving the use of fraudulent
e-mail to lure others into providing confidential information.
Here is some advice to keep your personal information safe:
- NEVER respond to a spam or phishing email. Responding just confirms that your email address is valid and you will find yourself getting more spam than ever.
- NEVER click on any links in emails that look suspicious. The safest way to access your bank's web site is to open a new web browser and type in the URL yourself (ie www.wamu.com or www.exchangebank.com).
- Optional: If you would like to report an email scam, forward the email to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov
What Can I Do About Spam?
The very best thing to do is ignore it. And the very best way to ignore it is to have Spam filtered out of your inbox. You can adjust your Spam Assassin settings to intercept Spam and move it to a folder called GrayMail.
- The first step is to activate GrayMail filtering for your account (if you
have not already done so).
- Open a web browser and go to https://ldaps.sonoma.edu/email/gmoptinout.html
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page and enter your email username and password.
- Select the "Turn On Graymail filtering" radio button and click the "Do It" button at the bottom.
- The next step is to adjust your settings to an optimal level - ensuring
that most Spam is filtered out of your inbox. Here is how to increase your
Spam Assassin settings:
- Open a web browser and go to https://webmail.sonoma.edu/sa/
- Log in with your email username and password
- Scroll down to "Required Hits" under General Settings. The default value is 5. The closer to 1, the more aggressive the settings.
- Finally, monitor your GrayMail folder. If legitimate emails are in your GrayMail folder, use the "White List" feature in Spam Assassin to prevent those emails from being marked as Spam. Conversely, if the same email address (that you know to be spam) is continually making it to your inbox, use the "Blacklist" feature of Spam Assassin to ensure that it is correctly marked as spam next time.
What is SpamAssassin?
SpamAssassin is an automated mail filter that tests incoming messages to identify unsolicited commercial email. SpamAssassin looks at email headers and text content and assigns points for spam-like characteristics. Messages with too-many points are tagged as spam and can be filtered.
What is Graymail?
Graymail is generally questionable email, usually spam. At SSU, you can sign up for a server-based Graymail filtering service which will move all SpamAssassin-tagged email into a "graymail" folder in your email account. Each day you will receive an automated message listing the incoming graymail items. You can view the items in your graymail folder at any time.
Managing GrayMail
You can access your GrayMail folder via the web, using the GrayMail Management utility. Sign in with your SSU email userid and password. Once logged in, you will have the ability to delete, whitelist or move an email to your inbox. Graymail items are automatically deleted after 7 days, unless you move them out of the graymail folder.
Whitelisting & Blacklisting
You can also set certain senders to always appear in your Inbox despite their SpamAssassin rating - this is called Whitelisting.
Or you can set mail from specific senders to be filtered into your graymail folder, even if they pass the SpamAssassin test - this is called Blacklisting.