Introduction to
Junk Mail Filtering in Exchange 2003
How satisfying it would be to see all the spam filtered out at the Exchange server.
Think of the extra productivity from happy workers, compared with their rage
at opening another unwanted email.
The combination of Intelligent Message filters on the Server and Junk
email filter in Outlook, provide state-of-the-art protection against
unwanted email.
Once
you buy and install this junk email filter, you can set thresholds to allow
mail through. The filter checks word patterns and calculates a rating
called a spam confidence level.
Outlook 2003 uses Smartscreen* technology, to filter out junk email.
Users can change Outlook's filter from Low to High or Exclusive.
As an administrator you can set thresholds either on the Exchange
gateway, or an individual mailbox. If the mailbox has a more serve
level than the store, the email gets delivered but to the junk email folder.
*SmartScreen Technology
SmartScreen technology was developed through thousands of Hotmail
subscribers, who analysed over a million emails, as either 'cool'
or as spam.
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This blocks known spammers by IP address. It also blocks servers
identified as relays for spam. The best tactic to beat the spammers is
to get regular updates of block lists from SPAMHAUS, SPYWAREGUIDE or MAPS.
Other tactics:
Global Deny and Accept lists
Sender filtering - Accounts which should never send email.
Inbound recipient filtering
Unfortunately, spammers often use unsuspecting people's Exchange server
to proliferate their spam, you can thwart them by configuring the SMTP
virtual server. The good news is that anti-relay protection is the
default setting.
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Import users from a spreadsheet, complete with their mailbox. Just provide a list of the
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attributes, click and import the users. Optionally, you can
provide the name of the OU where the new mailboxes will be born.
There are also two bonus tools in the free download, and all 3 have been approved by Microsoft:
Bulk-import new users and mailboxes into Active Directory.
There is further protection available at the Outlook 2003 client end. In fact, one of the best new features in Outlook 2003 is the Junk E-mail filter. Here is where you land combination
punches on spam. You can go for an upper-cut and block the sender, my method is to right-click the offending email, select Junk E-mail, then add Sender to Blocked Senders list. For the highly
organized, Outlook 2003 provides a Blocked Sender tab where you can manually add address that you consider spam. Perhaps the best feature of this tab is the import and export, my idea is to share
lists with friends and so build up your spam protection.
To defend against spam, adjust the level of email protection in Outlook 2003. Click on the Tools, Options menu, Junk E-mail, now choose
Low, High or Safe Lists Only.
»
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Here is a
free tool to monitor your Exchange Server.
Download the utility, then inspect your mail queues, monitor Exchange server's
memory, confirm there is enough disk space and check the CPU utilization.
