Spam Filtering at NYU

• Spam & Your NYU Email
• Spam Filter Configuration Instructions

Spam & Your NYU Email

Spam is unsolicited bulk email. The key term is "unsolicited" — if you signed up for a mailing list (commercial or otherwise) which you no longer wish to receive, that is not spam. The easy differentiation is that legitimate businesses will have a mailing policy posted on the site where you sign up for the mail, and will give you correct information about how to unsubscribe. For more information on spam, please see our Spam FAQs.

ITS implemented a spam filter in version 4.0 of NYUHome. Since it is difficult to definitively classify an email as spam, the PureMessage software on the NYU mail gateways scans incoming mail from non-NYU IP addresses for attributes characteristic of spam. When it finds these attributes, it gives the mail a "score." The higher the score, the more likely the message is to be spam. To help train our spam filtering software, you can forward spam messages you receive to is.spam@nyu.edu. (In order for the training to work, spam emails must be forwarded as attachments, not as inline text.)

You may take advantage of our spam filtering service with the built-in NYUHome webmail client, Messenger Express, as well as with desktop mail clients such as Apple Mail and Outlook (see below for instructions).

In Messenger Express, you first determine the spam filtering level, and then once mail thought to be spam is received, it is moved into an automatically created folder called "Spam." The messages in this folder will be automatically deleted when they are 7 days old.

With desktop mail clients, you create a filtering rule based on specific spam rating levels. Mail that matches the rule is then redirected into a folder of your choice and you can decide how you wish to handle the redirected messages. The filter level you select will determine the amount of spam you receive. If you find that you are receiving too much spam in your Inbox, try adjusting the level of filtering to be more strict. If you find that desired mail is being filtered, select a level that is less strict.

IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that some legitimate messages will end up in your spam folder if they exhibit characteristics of spam, for example, lots of capital letters, many exclamation points, or phrases such as "click here." Therefore, it is important to check your spam folder regularly to ensure that you receive messages that may have been inadvertently flagged as spam.

Spam Filter Configuration Instructions

• NYUHome/Messenger Express
• Apple Mail (Macintosh only)
• Outlook (PC only)

Questions? Please consult the Spam FAQ, or contact the ITS Client Services Center.

Page last reviewed: August 31, 2009