Spam assassin et al

Kit · 29 Aug 2010, 05:33 PM

I'm looking to move my email to fm from my current ISP (bluehost.com) because of spam problems. I have tried Postini in the past and found it worthless. So I signed up for spamassasain and that is no better. Ive set up rules for common spam words and these only partly help.Tech support at my ISP has not been able to figure out why I'm still getting 100's of spam messages a day. I think I read that fm uses spam assassin so I'm concerned that it will be no better? I'm currently using Apple Mail on my Mac and iPad.

Thanks for any thoughts and my apologies if this has been covered elsewhere. I tried a search but I've got really crappy web service while on holiday.

Cheers,

Kit

BritTim · 29 Aug 2010, 05:38 PM

My own experience is that the best solution for those with severe spam problems is a personal Bayes database. Fastmail supports this. You would probably still have spam problems for a few days, but once trained to your specific circumstances, I would expect Fastmail's spam handling to be effective.

Kit · 29 Aug 2010, 05:49 PM

Thanks for the quick reply. My Mac has really good spam blocking similar to the Bayes database I assume, but nothing exists on the iPad so it all comes thru. I'll sign up when Back at my Mac. I think I'll also switch from Pop that ive used for over 20 years starting with Eudora to imap.

Cheers,

Kit

digp · 29 Aug 2010, 05:53 PM

Try mailfoundry.com (it is free).

See if that helps.

yassarali · 29 Aug 2010, 07:17 PM

Just as an FYI, we have several layers of spam filtering, which can basically be classified as:

1. SMTP Stage, you can find the details here:

http://www.fastmail.fm/help/spam_vir...mtp_stage.html

2. Advanced Spam Protection (Bayes Db) which works on a training basis. More details here:

http://www.fastmail.fm/help/spam_virus_protection.html

-Yassar.

Kit · 29 Aug 2010, 07:31 PM

Thanks all!,

Cheers,

Kit

DrStrabismus · 29 Aug 2010, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yassarali

Just as an FYI, we have several layers of spam filtering, which can basically be classified as:
...
2. Advanced Spam Protection (Bayes Db) which works on a training basis.

I think this is a bit misleading because, unless something has changed recently, that is SpamAssassin.

I've found SpamAssassin to be very effective. If you didn't get a large reduction in spam then I think one of the following happened

1 you didn't set it up properly

2 you didn't train the Bayes component

3 SpamAssassin and it's Rules are not kept up-to-date

yassarali · 30 Aug 2010, 01:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrStrabismus

I think this is a bit misleading because, unless something has changed recently, that is SpamAssassin.

Yup thats right. Sorry if it was misleading.

I was just trying to point to how our spam system works.

-Yassar.

William9 · 30 Aug 2010, 03:24 AM

Sounds like Kit is trying to solve the spam problem using her email client with add on filters. As mentioned before, server based spam control systems like Fastmail's system (and many others) are really effective. I'll bet there will be a huge improvement in Kit's spam with proper set up of Fastmail's services.

Kit · 30 Aug 2010, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrStrabismus

I think this is a bit misleading because, unless something has changed recently, that is SpamAssassin.

I've found SpamAssassin to be very effective. If you didn't get a large reduction in spam then I think one of the following happened

1 you didn't set it up properly

2 you didn't train the Bayes component

3 SpamAssassin and it's Rules are not kept up-to-date

Unfortunately my current email provider doesn't allow much customization of Spam Assasain. It's either on or off, although I can change the spam score, but if I set it low enough to catch most spam it also catches too much good mail.
My rules are up to date, just not being properly used by my ISP/email provider.

Cheers,

Kit

29 Aug 2010, 05:33 PM	#1
Kit Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Fort Bragg, CA Posts: 12	Spam assassin et al I'm looking to move my email to fm from my current ISP (bluehost.com) because of spam problems. I have tried Postini in the past and found it worthless. So I signed up for spamassasain and that is no better. Ive set up rules for common spam words and these only partly help.Tech support at my ISP has not been able to figure out why I'm still getting 100's of spam messages a day. I think I read that fm uses spam assassin so I'm concerned that it will be no better? I'm currently using Apple Mail on my Mac and iPad. Thanks for any thoughts and my apologies if this has been covered elsewhere. I tried a search but I've got really crappy web service while on holiday. Cheers, Kit

29 Aug 2010, 05:38 PM	#2
BritTim The "e" in e-mail Join Date: May 2003 Location: mostly in Thailand Posts: 3,095	My own experience is that the best solution for those with severe spam problems is a personal Bayes database. Fastmail supports this. You would probably still have spam problems for a few days, but once trained to your specific circumstances, I would expect Fastmail's spam handling to be effective.

29 Aug 2010, 05:49 PM	#3
Kit Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Fort Bragg, CA Posts: 12	Thanks for the quick reply. My Mac has really good spam blocking similar to the Bayes database I assume, but nothing exists on the iPad so it all comes thru. I'll sign up when Back at my Mac. I think I'll also switch from Pop that ive used for over 20 years starting with Eudora to imap. Cheers, Kit

29 Aug 2010, 05:53 PM	#4
digp Master of the @ Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 1,326	Try mailfoundry.com (it is free). See if that helps.

29 Aug 2010, 07:17 PM	#5
yassarali Essential Contributor Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 323 Representative of: Fastmail.FM	Just as an FYI, we have several layers of spam filtering, which can basically be classified as: 1. SMTP Stage, you can find the details here: http://www.fastmail.fm/help/spam_vir...mtp_stage.html 2. Advanced Spam Protection (Bayes Db) which works on a training basis. More details here: http://www.fastmail.fm/help/spam_virus_protection.html -Yassar.

29 Aug 2010, 07:31 PM	#6
Kit Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Fort Bragg, CA Posts: 12	Thanks all!, Cheers, Kit

30 Aug 2010, 03:24 AM	#9
William9 The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: San Francisco Posts: 2,281	Sounds like Kit is trying to solve the spam problem using her email client with add on filters. As mentioned before, server based spam control systems like Fastmail's system (and many others) are really effective. I'll bet there will be a huge improvement in Kit's spam with proper set up of Fastmail's services.