Spam Control at the University of Houston

SPAM CONTROL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON DOWNTOWN (UH-D)

Note: Unlike UT Austin, UHD adopted a policy that intercepts spam, but allows users some
control over whether messages get through. The description below comes from UHD's web
site.

Anti-Spam Tool

Information Technology at the University of Houston-Downtown has implemented a spam
filtering tool to reduce the escalating number of spam e-mail messages we are all receiving.

Accounts to be Filtered

All external e-mail messages addressed to UHD accounts (including student GatorMail
accounts) will pass through the new filtering system to identify spam e-mail. E-mail messages
addressed to the following domains will be filtered:

@uhd.edu
@dt.uh.edu
@zeus.dt.uh.edu
@gator.uhd.edu

Spam filtering is enabled on all external e-mail messages delivered to UHD e-mail accounts.
UHD Spam Report

You will receive a UHD Spam Report regarding possible e-mail spam messages. The report
is an e-mail message delivered to your inbox from “UHD_Spam_Report” which contains a
summary of possible spam messages sent to you since the last report. It is a summary of all
external e-mail messages that meet the spam rule of a probability of a 30% to 100%
likelihood of being spam.

IT Training and User Development
Rm. A-700
713-221-8200
http://training.uhd.edu/

A spam filtering tool is an important feature of the University of Houston-Downtown’s e-mail
system. Spam e-mail is a worldwide problem; according to Microsoft, spam e-mail accounts
for more than half of all e-mail traffic in the world.

University of Houston-Downtown 1 IT Training and User Development Anti-Spam Project
IT Training and User Development

The report is delivered to your e-mail inbox four times daily (6 a.m., 11 a.m., 3 p.m., and 8 p.
m.).

Each report will include a summary of possible spam messages (you will only see the subject
and sender’s e-mail in the report). These messages will be quarantined or saved on the
server, and will only be available for retrieval for 30 days. You cannot retrieve the messages
after 30 days have passed.

Quarantined E-mail Messages

When you receive a spam report in your inbox, check to see that there are no emails that
have been mislabeled as spam. If you are sure that all of the emails on the spam report are
indeed unsolicited spam, you can delete the spam report and you will not need to further
concern yourself with it.

If you want to release any of the quarantined messages that appear on the spam report,
simply click on the message ID in Microsoft Outlook and then click on the Send button. The
message will then be delivered to your inbox within 2 minutes.

If the spam report contains several messages that you want released, you could just reply to
the report message and all messages in the report will be delivered to your inbox within 2
minutes. You do not have to click on each individual message ID within the report to release
the message.

If you wish to customize the settings of your spam filter – either to tighten up or to relax the
criteria, or to allow special handling for specific senders – please contact User Support for
assistance at x.3000 or 713-221-8031.

Feel free to send questions or comments to SpamAdmin@uhd.edu .
University Of Houston-Downtown 2 IT Training and User Development

Gatormail anti-spam policy

UHD GatorMail Academic Computing Lab December 2002

UHD GatorMail

GatorMail: Definition, Purpose, and Guidelines

Basically, GatorMail is the same as your Linux e-mail, but with access via the web. UHD
GatorMail addresses are mainly used to communicate about important University issues. For
UHD GatorMail Guidelines, please log on to: http://gator.uhd.edu/atmailpro/acad_agree.htm

To obtain your UHD GatorMail Account

All UHD Students, faculty and staff will have access to UHD GatorMail. The same username
and password for Linux accounts will also be used for UHD GatorMail account.
Students

By default, all UHD Students already have a Linux account issued to them. To obtain your
Linux account information, logon to e-services site at https://global.dt.uh.edu/e-services and
then click on “My Personal Data”).

Faculty and Staff

Faculty and Staff will need to fill out the General Computer Account Access Request form in
order to obtain a Linux account. The form is located at http://www.uhd.
edu/computing/generalform.htm

Login to GatorMail

To Login to UHD GatorMail go to http://www.uhd.edu/gatormail. You will be directed to the
following screen.

- User Name: Type in your Linux user name.
- Password: Type in your Linux password.
- Interface: choose the browser that is available on your pc. If you are using one of the
pcs located in the Academic Computing Lab (S800) or the Technology Teaching and
Learning Center (A700), a good option would be Professional (IE5+ NS6+). IF you do not
know which browser is installed on your pc, choose the (Simple/Any browser) option.
- Language: By default, GatorMail is set up to display information in English. You may
choose your preferred language by clicking on the down arrow.
- Click on Login

If your login is successful, the following screen will be displayed.

Anti-Spam Policy

What is this all about?

Information Technology at the University of Houston-Downtown in implementing a spam
filtering tool to reduce the escalating number of spam e-mail messages we are all getting.
Spam e-mail is a worldwide problem; and according to Microsoft, spam e-mail accounts for
more than half of all e-mail traffic in the world.

How will it impact me?

You will receive alerts regarding possible e-mail spam messages in a “daily” digest.
DIGEST – The digest is one single e-mail message delivered to your Inbox from
“UHD_Spam_Report” which contains a summary of possible spam messages sent to you
since the last digest.

It is delivered to your inbox 4 times daily – 6am, 11am, 3 pm and 8pm, only if you have spam
messages.

Each digest will include a summary of possible spam messages (you will only see the subject
and sender’s e-mail in the digest. The actual message will be quarantined/saved on the
server.

If you want to release any of the quarantined messages in the digest, simply click on the
message ID and a reply email will come up. Click send and the message will be released
from the server and arrive in your Inbox within 2 minutes.

If you receive a digest that contains several messages and you want to release all of them,
you can just reply to the digest message and all messages in that digest will be delivered to
your Inbox within 2 minutes. This way you will not have to click on each individual message ID.

Quarantined messages saved on the server will only be available for retrieval for 30 days,
and can not be retrieved after 30 days.

NOTE: Releasing an email from the server will not prevent further email sent by that sender
from being quarantined in the future.

UHD GatorMail Academic Computing Lab December 2002