|
The Bulletin – September/October Edition
Technical Tips
By Tom Snyder Ph.D.
Win the Junk E-mail War
If you receive as many e-mails a day as I do, it's a pretty good bet that at least some of that e-mail is
junk. And unfortunately, the amount of junk seems to be increasing daily. So what’s a person to do
to keep from being over run? Junk mail filters are a castle in the siege.
Free Junk Mail Filters
For the large number of you who use Outlook, you’ve already got junk mail filters. You merely need
to configure them to work the way you want them to.
You can configure them to change the color of the header (grey for junk and maroon for adult
content) so you can easily identify suspicious e-mail. You can also configure the filters to move
suspicious messages to a different folder.
To perform this filtering process, Outlook uses a file named Filters.txt. You can't modify this file, but
you can add e-mail addresses and/or domains to the junk and adult senders lists.
The Junk Senders and Adult Content Senders filters are handy, but they really are just a partial
solution. You'll find that a set of custom rules is an effective additional weapon against junk mail. One of the most effective custom rules for dealing with junk mail is to filter out any message that
comes from a sender you don't know.
To make this method work, ensure that each acceptable sender address exists in your Contacts folder
or Personal Address Book. Then, create a rule from the Rules Wizard that checks the Sender Is In
Specified Address Book condition, with the action to Stop Processing More Rules. Keep in mind
that this method only works for Outlook 2002.
Some valid messages are bound to match the filters sooner or later, so you'll no doubt need to make
a few exceptions to the rules. You'll do this by modifying the Exception List rule within the Rules
Wizard.
Third-Party Weapons
There are quite a few third-party solutions for battling junk mail. For organizations with web-based
e-mail such as Yahoo! or AOL, PC magazine recommends ChoiceMail and Mailshell. For
organizations that require a more robust solution that works with their in-house e-mail, I recommend
GFI’s Mail essentials.
A few days spent investigating options and configuring tools will definitely pay off by cutting down
the amount of unwanted mail you have to sort through in your Inbox daily!
=========================
If you have questions or concerns about your particular situation, please e-mail me at tpsynder@xantrion.com.. I will use your input to direct future columns.
=========================
 |
