Information Technology provides several services on the central e-mail gateway servers to help manage spam at UW:

1. Blocking (Blacklisting) Known Spammer E-mail

   UW uses Message Transfer Agent (MTA) level IP blocking from Sophos to help combat spam by rejecting messages originating from known spammer IP addresses, so they never reach user inboxes. The addresses are blocked, or blacklisted, by the Sophos software and other blacklisting services.  The catalog of blacklisted IP addresses is updated frequently throughout each day. 
   
   Any e-mail that is rejected by UW’s blacklist will be returned to the sender with an explanatory error message, so that senders who are inadvertently blocked can contact us for assistance.
   
   As with all anti-spam systems, none are perfect.  It is possible that some e-mail from blacklisted sites should be allowed.  Information Technology maintains a centrally managed address list of IP addresses that should not be blocked from the UW network (whitelisted sites).  If you encounter problems with improperly blocked e-mail from IP addresses identified as spam, you may request that the address be unblocked (whitelisted).  To request that an e-mail address be added to the central whitelist, send the address and reason to userhelp@uwyo.edu.

2. Quarantining Suspected Spam E-mail and Providing a Daily Spam Digest
   
   PureMessage from Sophos provides UW the ability to quarantine suspected spam e-mail, which is then sent to the user in a single daily spam e-mail (digest) that lists each suspected message, the time it was sent, and the probability that it is spam. The user can easily release any or all of the suspected e-mail messages to their Inbox. Additionally, through a Web interface at www.uwyo.edu/uwspam, the user can customize their filtering options, review messages, release messages to their Inbox, approve a sender and add them to their own personal whitelist, and delete messages from the Blocked Messages page. A UWSPAM Quarantine spam e-mail will only be sent to a user if there has been suspect spam quarantined for that user since the last UWSPAM
   Quarantine e-mail was processed.

3. Tagging and Filtering Suspected Spam E-mail
   
   If a user would rather receive all suspected spam e-mail rather than viewing it in a quarantine digest, PureMessage from Sophos also allows UW to tag suspected spam e-mail, which then helps a user filter out the unwanted e-mails once they reach their Inbox. 
   
   Mail identified as possible spam is tagged in the Subject line with [SPAM-H], [SPAM-M], or [SPAM-L] depending on whether their probability of being spam is High, Medium, or Low. Users can then sort or filter their e-mail by the Subject line content to more easily review and delete the unwanted e-mails. See How to Create a Rule in Microsoft Outlook to Manage SPAM E-mail (www.uwyo.edu/askit/displaydoc.asp?askitdocid=227&parentid=1) for assistance with the creation of a spam filtering rule based on Subject content.
   
   Additionally, with this option, each message is modified to include specific information in the Internet header that can be used to configure filters in Outlook or other e-mail applications. See How to Create a Rule in Microsoft Outlook to Manage Spam E-mail (based on Internet header information) (www.uwyo.edu/askit/displaydoc.asp?askitdocid=155&parentid=1) for assistance in creating a spam filtering rule based on Internet header information.
   
   Users may notice some e-mail messages that are tagged as spam are actually e-mails they want to receive . Filtering can be configured to separate these desired e-mails from the unwanted e-mails by setting up personal Exception List or whitelist rules in a user's e-mail application. See How to Create an Exception Rule in Microsoft Outlook (www.uwyo.edu/askit/displaydoc.asp?askitdocid=230&parentid=1) for assistance.

1. Blocking (Blacklisting) Known Spammer E-mail
   
   Message Transfer Agent (MTA) level IP blocking cannot be opted out of as it is implemented at the e-mail gateway and cannot be configured on a per user basis.
     
2. Quarantining Suspected Spam E-mail and Providing a Daily Spam Digest 
   
   NOTE: All users are automatically opted in to UWSPAM quarantining unless they previously opted out of spam tagging.
     
   You can opt out of UWSPAM quarantining through the UW SPAM Blocking site (www.uwyo.edu/uwspam). Click Options, in the Options box, in the Mail-Filtering Preferences section, clear the Notify me periodically of messages that have been blocked check box, and click Save.
     

3. Tagging and Filtering Suspected Spam E-mail
    
   You can opt out of  spam tagging through the UW SPAM Blocking site (www.uwyo.edu/uwspam). Click Options, in the Options box, in the Mail-Filtering Preferences section, select the Disable all spam tagging and blocking for my messages check box, and click Save.

1. Quarantining Suspected Spam E-mail and Providing a Daily Spam Digest 
   
   NOTE: All users are automatically opted in to UWSPAM quarantining unless they previously opted out of spam tagging.
     
   You can opt back in to UWSPAM quarantining through the UW SPAM Blocking site (www.uwyo.edu/uwspam). Click Options, in the Options box, in the Mail-Filtering Preferences section, select the Notify me periodically of messages that have been blocked check box, clear the Disable all spam tagging and blocking for my messages check box if it is selected, and click Save.
     

2. Tagging and Filtering Suspected Spam E-mail
     
   You can opt in to spam tagging through the UW SPAM Blocking site (www.uwyo.edu/uwspam). Click Options, in the Options box, in the Mail-Filtering Preferences section, clear the Disable all spam tagging and blocking for my messages check box, clear the Notify me periodically of messages that have been blocked check box, and click Save.
   

The PureMessage filtering software applies a series of tests to each incoming e-mail. This series of tests determines the probability that a particular message is spam. 

If a user is taking part in UWSPAM Quarantining, e-mails with a probability rate of at least 20% and less than 50%, display this information in the Internet Headers section of each e-mail.  For users taking part in UW Spam Tagging,  e-mails with a probability rate of at least 20% display this information in the Internet Headers section of each e-mail. The Internet Headers section of each e-mail lists the probability that an e-mail may be spam in percentage format (i.e. 50%) and as a series of X's, with each X representing 10% (i.e. XXXXX for 50%). See How to Create Folders and Rules for Moving Messages in Microsoft Outlook (www.uwyo.edu/askit/displaydoc.asp?askitdocid=155&parentid=1) for assistance with the creation of a spam filtering rule based on the Internet Header information.

If a user has chosen to take part in only the UW Spam Tagging service, e-mails with a probability of 50% or greater are also tagged in the Subject line with [SPAM-H], [SPAM-M], or [SPAM-L] depending on whether their probability of being spam is High, Medium, or Low. Users can then sort or filter their e-mail by the Subject line content to more easily review and delete the unwanted e-mails. See How to Create Folders and Rules for Moving Messages in Microsoft Outlook (www.uwyo.edu/askit/displaydoc.asp?askitdocid=227&parentid=1) for assistance with the creation of a spam filtering rule based on the Subject line content.

First, verify the e-mails are not in any folders that you have spam e-mail filtered into or the UW SPAM Blocking site (www.uwyo.edu/uwspam) if you are using UWSPAM quarantining. If you find that the e-mail has been quarantined, you can easily approve the message and the sender, which will protect the sender's future e-mails from being quarantined.

If the e-mail does not appear to have ever reached your account, it is possible that it may have been blocked at the e-mail gateway by MTA  level IP blocking. First, contact the sender to see if this may be the case. Any e-mail that is rejected from UW’s blacklist will be returned to the sender with an explanatory error message, so that senders who are inadvertently blocked are aware of this and can contact us for assistance.

If it does appear that the messages were blocked by UW, you may request that the address be unblocked (whitelisted).  To request that an address be added to the central whitelist, send the address and reason to userhelp@uwyo.edu.

Central e-mail gateway spam services currently log but do not block
outgoing suspect spam messages.

If an e-mail you sent has not been received, e-mail userhelp@uwyo.edu and provide the recipient(s) addresses and the time and date you sent the e-mail.  If you have received a notice indicating the e-mail was delayed or rejected, include it when you contact userhelp@uwyo.edu.

This will depend on the service that is blocking the e-mail.

If the e-mail is showing up in your UWSPAM Quarantine digest, you can approve the message and the sender through the UW SPAM Blocking site (www.uwyo.edu/uwspam), which will whitelist the sender for future mailings.

If the message is blocked at the gateway by MTA level IP blocking, send an e-mail to UserHelp@uwyo.edu with the sender's e-mail address and the reason that the sender should be whitelisted. If possible, also provide the notice received by the sender that indicates the message was blocked.

If the message is being filtered into the Junk E-mail folder by a rule you have created in Microsoft Outlook, you can create an Exception Rule to whitelist this sender. See How to Create an Exception Rule in Microsoft Outlook (www.uwyo.edu/askit/displaydoc.asp?askitdocid=230&parentid=1)for assistance.

If you are using the Junk E-mail filter in your e-mail application,  and the message is being filtered into the Junk E-mail folder, add the sender's address to the Safe Senders list.

Users can assist IT with spam blocking by sending IT e-mails they feel are either mistagged or untagged as spam.

If a user receives an e-mail that is not tagged or blocked as spam, they can send the e-mail in question as an attachment to is-spam@uwyo.edu. Likewise, e-mail that is mis-tagged or blocked as spam (in the user's opinion) when it is not can be sent as an attachment to not-spam@uwyo.edu.

The original untagged/mistagged e-mails must be sent as attachments and not just forwarded on. Once received, they will be sent on to Sophos for analysis.

To send the untagged/mistagged e-mail as an attachment, in Microsoft Outlook,

1. In the main Outlook view, click to select the specific untagged/mistagged e-mail message, select the Edit menu, and click Copy.
2. Create a new e-mail message, and address it to is-spam@uwyo.edu or not-spam@uwyo.edu, as appropriate.
3. Click in the Body of the message, where you would usually type your e-mail message, select the Edit menu, and click Paste.
   NOTE: More than one e-mail can be copied and pasted into a single message.

UWSPAM Quarantine e-mails can be filtered into your Junk E-Mail or another folder depending on your e-mail application settings and rules.

To avoid having the UWSPAM quarantine e-mails moved to the Junk E-mail folder by your application's built-in Junk E-mail filters, add uwspam@uwyo.edu to your Safe Senders list. In Microsoft Outlook 2003, you can do this by right-clicking any of the UWSPAM quarantine e-mail messages, clicking Junk E-mail, and clicking Add Sender to Safe Senders List. 

If the UWSPAM quarantine e-mails are being moved to the Junk E-mail folder by a rule you have created, you will need to create an Exception Rule to prevent this. See How to Create an Exception Rule in Microsoft Outlook (www.uwyo.edu/askit/displaydoc.asp?askitdocid=230&parentid=1) for assistance in making a rule that will keep this address from being moved to the Junk E-mail folder in Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Also see Why can't I click on the links in the UWSPAM quarantined e-mail messages I receive? (www.uwyo.edu/askit/displaydoc.asp?askitdocid=1202&parentid=1)

Some versions of Microsoft Outlook have an anti-phishing feature in place that may restrict you from automatically clicking links within an e-mail message. When you click a link, you will recieve the message that  "Some links in this message might connect to unsafe or fraudulent sites. To help protect your security, links have been turned off in this message. Click the info bar for options to turn on links in this message."

In order to reach the Web site or address by clicking the link, click the information bar at the top of the e-mail, and click Turn on Links (not recommended). This will need to be done each time you receive an e-mail that has disabled links.  If a user is ever in doubt as to the security of a link within in an e-mail, they should not click the link but rather open a browser window and manually type the URL.

Microsoft provides further information on this anti-phishing feature at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA011841931033.aspx.

The UWSPAM quarantine e-mails are intended to be read in HTML format.
Once an HTML e-mail is moved to the Microsoft Outlook Junk E-mail folder, the HTML formatting and capabilities are removed (this is by design for the sake of security and cannot be changed), which makes these e-mails unmanageable. To be able to read the UWSPAM quarantine e-mails as they were intended, move them back to your Inbox.

It may take a few minutes (up to 10 or 15) before a message that is released from spam blocking appears in your Inbox.  

You may experience different behaviors depending on your e-mail client. In Microsoft Outlook, the message will be time stamped with the time that it was delivered to your Inbox after being released from quarantine.  Inside the message, you will see the original date and time that the message was sent. In other e-mail clients, messages may retain the original received date. If it is older than other messages in your Inbox, you may want to search further down the list of e-mail messages if you sort by the Received column. Additionally, if you have any spam filtering rules set up or are using the built-in Microsoft Outlook Junk E-mail filters, it may be automatically filtered to your Junk E-mail or Spam folder.