URBAN NETWORKING

Anyone can be (nearly) SPAM free!

by Roger Barnette

Anyone (but not just any email address) can be (nearly) spam free.   The catch is in the way your email system is designed.   If you are using someone else’s domain name you are must rely on your email provider to assist you, but if you own your own domain name there may be a tool you can configure to help you out.

A product called SpamAssassin is commonly installed in web hosting facilities.   These facilities also process email.   While SpamAssassin may be installed it is not always turned on.   SpamAssassin scores every incoming email according to a set of industry rules that consider the originator of the email, the content of the email and other key attributes.   If this score exceeds a certain threshold, then the email is considered spam.   These spam emails are wrapped with the email equivalent of an envelope and labeled as spam.   Simply add an email rule to your personal email client that looks for these envelopes and you can automatically cause spam to be moved out of the inbox and into another email folder.

If you would like to use SpamAssassin, contact your web hosting provider to ask about activating this wonderful tool.   Please contact us if you would like us to counsel you in setting up this product.