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What is spam?
Spam, also known as junk mail or unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE), is essentially
the electronic version of junk mail you get in your home mailbox -- mail that
is delivered to your inbox even though you did not ask for it and have likely
never had any relationship with the company or person sending it. E-mail spam
can be more dangerous than the paper version, however -- some spammers aim to
hack into a user’s information by having the user reply to the spam message,
unsubscribe from the spam message, or click on links that are inserted in the
message itself. Phishing is
a specific type of spam that tries to trick you into providing personal information
such as account user names, passwords, and Social Security Numbers to be exploited
in criminal activities.
Spam is extremely pervasive on the Internet: according to this
Cnet.com report, spam makes up 90.4 percent of all e-mail traffic on the
Internet. Because of the sheer amount of spam on the Internet, it is basically
impossible for any Internet Service Provider (ISP), including this university,
to block spam completely. There are people behind the messages who use various,
sometimes automated, tactics to send as many spam messages as possible. Each
time one of their tactics is successfully blocked, they develop a new one to
bypass the blockade.
What is OIT doing about it?
OIT provides several barriers to incoming spam, however, the recent increase
in spam traffic is spurring us to update our defensive strategy. Until recently,
our junk mail defenses had been directed at traffic coming from outside the
university. All e-mail messages claiming to come from @umd.edu e-mail addresses
were delivered without being evaluated by spam filters. Spam techniques have
evolved and increasingly use forged sender addresses in order to disguise spam
as a local message. On July 28, 2009, we changed the spam filter settings to
filter all incoming e-mail messages, even the ones with @umd.edu sender addresses,
unless they are sent from an e-mail server on the University of Maryland’s
computer network.
What should I do when I receive junk mail messages
in my inbox?
When you receive junk mail messages in your e-mail inbox, the most important
thing you should do is delete them without replying. There
are also a few other actions you can take to reduce the amount of spam that
reaches your inbox:
- Create local filters using Webmail or your e-mail client (Outlook, Thunderbird,
etc.) to direct the delivery of incoming messages based on different variables,
such as sender, message content, or words in the subject line.
- Use an allow list and a block list to control which senders' e-mail messages
are delivered to your inbox and which ones are directed elsewhere or deleted.
None of these actions are perfect. No matter what, you will likely still receive
some spam in your inbox. It is also possible that some legitimate e-mails from
your colleagues, professors, and friends will be mistakenly filtered as spam
and put in your junk mail folder. You should check your junk mail folder regularly
for legitimate messages.
How do I use local filters?
If you create message filters for your Mail@umd Mirapoint account using Webmail,
you won't need to create them using another e-mail client. Instructions for
setting up filters using Webmail are available at www.oit.umd.edu/email/gettingstarted/webmailtutorial-manage.htm#createfilter.
The OIT Help Desk offers instructions on setting up filters for various e-mail
clients:
If you use POP to get your e-mail, please visit www.helpdesk.umd.edu/systems/mailatumd/all/4457 for more information.
How can I make or edit an allow/block list?
Instructions on using Webmail to do this are available at www.oit.umd.edu/email/gettingstarted/webmailtutorial-manage.htm#junkmail.
Any settings you create in Webmail will also apply to your account when you
access it using an e-mail client.
What can I do if a legitimate message is filtered
into my junk mail folder?
If the message is from a sender you trust and whose messages you’d like
delivered to your inbox in the future, you should add the sender to your allow
list. Instructions on using Webmail to do this are available here.
Creating these filters and lists seem kind of
tedious. Can't I just unsubscribe from the junk mail lists?
Because some spammers aim to capture whatever personal information they can
by getting you to reply to the spam message, unsubscribe from the spam message,
or click on links that are inserted in the message itself, you will just be
falling into their trap if you take any of those actions. Consequences can vary
from having your address added to additional spam delivery lists to having your
address used to distribute additional spam to other e-mail users. If you do
not wish to create filters or block lists, then you should simply delete spam
messages without replying, clicking on links, or taking any other actions. Can't
get much easier than that!
Is it possible that messages I send will be filtered
into other university community members' junk mail folders?
If you're using your university e-mail account to send messages, this should
occur only very rarely. Certain variables could cause this to happen, such as
forwarding spam, including images in messages, sending HTML links, or including
words commonly used in spam messages. If you are using an external e-mail account
(such as Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail) to send messages to someone at the university,
it is unlikely, but possible, that your message could be mistakenly marked as
spam, even if you are using an @umd.edu address as your sending address. This
is the reason we encourage university community members to check their junk
mail folders regularly for legitimate messages.
Can fellow university community members use their
accounts to spam me?
The university prohibits the use of university IT resources to send spam messages,
either to the university community or to people outside of the university. See
the Policy on the Acceptable Use of Information
Technology Resources for more details.
What other university resources are available
to help me fight spam?
Some other things you might want to consider are listed below:
For additional information or for assistance with setting up spam controls,
please contact the OIT Help Desk at 301.405.1500 (faculty/staff) or 301.405.1400
(students).
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