Spam has grown in prevalence over the last few years, requiring that faculty, staff, students and OTS all take steps to combat it.
Spam is unsolicited junk e-mail. Spam is sent in bulk, usually to a list gathered (by legal or illegal means) from subscribers to a Web site distribution list, or obtained by companies that specialize in e-mail distribution lists. Spam can also mean multiple postings of the same message to Newsgroups or listservers that are not related to the topic of the message. Other terms on the Internet for spam include UCE (Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail) and UBE (Unsolicited Bulk E-Mail).
It is NOT proper etiquette to send spam, and it DOES constitute inappropriate behavior and misuse of Towson's e-mail resources.
There is always a possibility of receiving spam, but you can reduce that possibility by following the advice below.
Here are some useful tips to avoid spam:
- Avoid
agreements to receive postings about products or
interests.
Some people actually agree to receive unsolicited e-mail when they register with a particular Web site (perhaps by checking a box agreeing to receive postings about particular products or interests). When visiting sites on the Web, please be aware of any such agreements.
- Never reply to
unsolicited e-mail with a "remove" request, or click
an "unsubscribe" link, as this only validates to a
spammer or "list broker" that your address is current.
When you click to unsubscribe yourself from an e-mail list, or reply to a message asking to be unsubscribed, this often will confirm to the sender that your e-mail address is a valid one. Unfortunately, your e-mail address is then added to a list which can then continue to receive these unsolicited messages. In addition, senders of spam will often sell or distribute lists of valid e-mail addresses to other senders of spam, which can often cause an almost exponential increase in your volume of unsolicited mail.
- Avoid
including yourself in an unprotected online service's
member directory.
OTS has protected its Web site directories from automated systems called "spiders," which will search throughout a site to find large lists of e-mail addresses. Some of our directories require a log-in, while others require an additional click to bring up a separate window with a person's e-mail address. These measures help prevent these "spiders" from acquiring Towson University e-mail addresses.
- Avoid posting
to an Internet bulletin board, Usenet newsgroup
or public listserve.
Spammers can easily obtain a large quantity of valid e-mail addresses from such services.
- Avoid spending
time in chat rooms or an online service that displays
your address.
Spammers can easily obtain a large quantity of valid e-mail addresses from such services.
- Set anti-spam
filters with your mail program (this is possible via
programs such as Microsoft Outlook).
In Outlook, when you receive a spam e-mail, you can right-click on the message and choose to add it to the Junk Mail list.
- Use a
non-university account for personal activity on the
Internet.
If you do choose to post to a Web site or have to use your e-mail address on the Web, use a free Hotmail or Yahoo account to further protect your Towson University account from receiving unsolicited messages.
Steps OTS Has Taken to Block and Filter Spam
In response to increased reports of spam received by university accounts, OTS is proactively battling spam with the use of two key utilities:
- SpamAssassin
By examining key characteristics of incoming messages (such as certain keywords, message format, presence of "unsubscribe" links, etc.), SpamAssassin can identify many e-mails as spam and block them from coming into the university e-mail system. For more information about this software, you can visit the SpamAssassin Web site at http://www.spamassassin.org.
Spam Assassin also adds a piece of information to incoming messages which may allow you to complete additional spam filtering in Outlook and other e-mail applications. More information on using this type of filter is available here.
- Individual Address and Domain Blocking
The university has also created a tool which allows us to block specific, single e-mail addresses or domains. If you notice a specific, constant sender of spam, forward a copy of the spam as an attachment to the OTS Help Center at helpcenter@towson.edu, and OTS will block that sender from sending to university addresses.
After implementing these new tools, OTS has successfully blocked a large number of unsolicited messages. Approximately 50% of total incoming e-mail (approximately 50,000-60,000 messages per day) is identified as spam and blocked. Additional statistics are available at http://syssrv.towson.edu/mail.
One Step Further: Combating Spam
Even after preventative measures, along with efforts by OTS in blocking large quantities of unsolicited messages, it is still possible for you to receive spam.
Should you be bothered incessantly by particular spammers, you may register a complaint with the postmaster of the domain from which that spam is being sent. A simple and polite message from you with a subject of "unsolicited mail" such as, "Here is a copy of the spam I have received" will suffice. With your statement, you will need to send an untitled copy of the junk mail you received with the complete message headers intact (you can do this by attaching, rather than forwarding, the spam message).
In addition, many e-mail clients (such as Outlook or Outlook Express) provide filtering rules for mail. You can set up rules which automatically delete messages based on sender names/addresses or keywords.
You can also report the more serious offenders to the Federal Trade Commission, by sending an e-mail with the spam attached to uce@ftc.gov.
