Spam Management

Spam is an increasing problem in the Internet these days, and I doubt the problem will ever go away. Thus, MPD Global offers spam solutions for all e-mail accounts.

This protection is based on 2 separate systems, which operate in completely different ways. The two methods of control MPD Global currently employs is Filtering and Greylisting.

PLEASE NOTE: No spam reduction system is perfect. Spammers will always find ways around mail filters, and there will always be false-positives. If you don’t mind the spam, or do not get any, or are afraid of losing any mail at all then you should simply turn off any filtering efforts on your accounts.

Greylisting, as defined by WikiPedia, is a spam control technology which will send a “Try again Later” message to any mail server which attempts to deliver to MPD Global servers. A legitimate mail service will try again after a period of time, and then will successfully deliver the e-mail. Once a server has contacted, then re-contacted MPD Global servers, that sending server IP/From/To combination are saved as “ok” and will automatically pass through every time thereafter.

This means that the FIRST TIME you are sent an e-mail from a NEW PERSON or E-MAIL ADDRESS there will be a delay of around 5 minutes before delivery.

The concept behind this technique is that many/most spammers attempt to send out tons and tons of e-mail per blast, and any that are rejected are simply not attempted again. (Compared to legitimate traffic, which would queue on the remote server and try again.)

If at any point you are contacted by an outside member telling you that they are getting errors sending to your e-mail address, please let us know so we can address the issue immediately.

We offer the following options for Greylisting:

1. [Default Action] Greylisting is enabled for all users. All first time e-mail attempts will be “slow” as the challenge is met and answered. Each time thereafter mail should pass immediately through at normal speed.
2. Greylisting can be disabled for your account. If you are not getting any Spam, or do not like the delay in messages or are worried about any modifications to your e-mail, then please let us know.

Mail Filtering using SpamAssassin is a technology that “tests” every e-mail against a known set of rules to “rank” on a scale from 0 - 100 how likely any message is Spam. (0 = Not spam, 100 = 100% Spam) Filtering is effective to cull out the immediately obvious and publicly known Spam messages, but those who engage in Spamming businesses ALSO have these technologies and are constantly working to figure out how to get past them. Each new version of SpamAssassin slowly gets less effective as Spammers find ways around it, until a new version comes out... and the cycle repeats.

We are offering this service in a variety options, any of which you can choose from at any time:

1. [Default Action] E-mail the server determines to be “Spam” (meets a threshold score of 15 out of 100 – medium threshold) is branded with a subject line that says [SPAM] and is delivered to your inbox. An explanation of the scoring system is appended to the beginning of the e-mail, with the original e-mail included.
2. You’d like spam filtering, but want your threshold (what qualifies it as spam – # out of 100) either raised or lowered. All mail marked as [SPAM] continues to be delivered to your inbox with normal mail.
3. You’d like spam filtering, and you want it out of your inbox. Mail tagged as [SPAM] can be redirected to another folder of your choice. (Mine is called ‘Junk’) This keeps your inbox clear of spam, and you can review the Spam mail folder at your leisure.
4. You want all spam filtering disabled, and all mail to be untouched and un-analyzed by the system, and delivered as normal to your inbox.

If you wish to modify your personal user settings for this spamassassin filtering, please see the Spamassassin User Preferences section of our FAQ.

If you would like to pursue one of these options or have any other questions, or would like to simply disable your Spam Filtering, please let me know.