BlockIT "Spam" Filtering

"Spam" ranges from simply annoying to down-right obscene. Not only is it inconvenient, and often offensive, it costs the IT sector billions of dollars every year. And the problem is still growing.

To help deal with this epidemic, Stargate Connections has added BlockIT to our line of E-mail Defence Services. BlockIT looks for common traits of "spam" messages and filters them based on collective scores.

How It Works:

• Contact your Stargate sales representative to request BlockIT. The service can be applied to any Internet (SMTP) e-mail system, even for domains and servers not hosted at Stargate Connections.
• For the first month, BlockIT will operate in "Tagging" mode. In this mode, "spam" traits are detected and given scores. A message with a score total of 5 or higher are tagged by prefixing "SPAM(score)" onto the subject line*:

  SPAM(7.4) WOW - Special offers!!! Call for FREE consultation!!!

  The messages will still be delivered to your mailbox, but the subject will let you know which messages BlockIT identified as "spam." The message will also include a short summary to explain why the e-mail was tagged*.
• You should watch for any messages that are incorrectly tagged as "SPAM" during this period. The most common are from mailing lists to which you've legitimately signed up. To ensure you get these messages, forward the sender's address to spam-admin@stargate.ca to be included in your "white list." This list lets BlockIT know from which addresses you will always receive messages.
• You can also use this period to determine if the scoring threshold is too low. This can be raised to any score you deem appropriate.
• After the one-month trial period, BlockIT will switch to "Blocking" mode. This refuses messages at the source. They will not be received into your inbox, nor will they be stored on the e-mail server, saving valuable storage and bandwidth. Instead, the sender – if legitimate – will receive a polite message notifying them that their e-mail was refused and why. (A legitimate sender can then reformat their message to resend it, if they choose.)

* Note: To use BlockIt, customers must agree to allow Stargate Connections to alter the contents of incoming e-mail messages.