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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

In the Fight Against Spam, “Who Ya Gonna Call?” ETS Spambusters!


Educational Technology Services is well aware of and concerned about the growing annoyances, threats and impact spam, viruses and spyware are having on MCC.  It’s our job and yes, you can call us! 

Unfortunately, no product or software application exists that can completely stop the proliferation of spam, viruses and spyware.  ETS has implemented software, new features and networking devices on many levels (desktops, systems and networking) to provide protection and relief from these threats.  ETS has also implemented a spam filtering and blocking feature on our email servers and installed spyware and trojan detection software (like the Trojan Horse!) on each PC this year.  We continue to maintain antivirus software for the desktop and email servers that will detect and cleanse any known incoming viruses.  On the networking level, ETS has implemented firewalls that can filter and block intruders from attacking and infecting our servers and PCs. 

Microsoft Exchange 2003 (Email System)

ETS has implemented a spam-filtering feature call SmartScreen technology on MCC’s email servers.  The filter evaluates the content of the messages for recognizable patterns and assigns the message a rating based on the probability that the message is unsolicited commercial e-mail, i.e. spam.  When used in conjunction with Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, this filter significantly reduces the volume of spam you receive. How significant you may ask?  ETS filters over 20,000 spam messages a day!

Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 includes features and functionality designed to help block much of the spam that you receive. These features give you more control over the kinds of messages delivered to your Inbox.  Individual users have to activate these features and our next article will include directions on how to do so.

Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access allow you to create a list of safe senders that you want to accept e-mail messages from and a list of blocked senders from whom you want to reject e-mail messages. The college’s email server delivers all messages from safe senders to your Inbox and all messages from blocked senders to your Junk E-mail folder.

Out-of-Office Messages on Outlook

When you are out of the office for an extended period of time, you may setup an automated “Out-of-Office Message” which alerts e-mail correspondents of your absence.  However, this is not a message you want to be sent back to spammers because it lets them know they have a valid email address.  To avoid this problem, ETS has implemented a feature on the email server that sends out-of-office messages to MCC accounts only.  

ETS Spambusters Prevail – Sometimes

All of the efforts mentioned above alleviate the spam problem to some extent and we are proud to say that, unlike some other institutions, our systems have never been completely shut down because of spam.  In our next article we will discuss how YOU can join our fight against spam!

Communications and Network Services
Educational Technology Services
03/07/2005