The dos and don’ts of controlling junk e-mail
The dos and don’ts of controlling junk e-mail
Since Feb. 2 I’ve received more than 65,000 e-mail messages, 75% of them spam. Yet, each day I rarely delete more than a dozen messages from my inbox, and retrieve only one or two accidentally sent to my “junk” folder. Before I tell you how I do it, I need to set your expectations. Junk e-mail will never go away. Our goal is not to eradicate spam but to make it easy to avoid by cutting the flood to a trickle. Another thing: Once you begin using filtering software, you must check your junk folder to catch the good messages that wind up there by mistake. Some always do, believe me. The only way to catch them and improve your filter is to check manually. I know this takes time, but so does deleting dozens of messages daily like you’re probably doing now. Now, follow my five steps to a cleaner mailbox:
1. Get software that uses a “white list” for filtering. The opposite of a black list, every address on your white list is accepted. Put your customers and regular correspondents in your white list immediately, usually by clicking a command button accepting the address, and choose a product that automatically adds the addresses of all outgoing messages, too. Then use the software to put every “white list” message into a special “approved” inbox folder. Now you can focus on dealing with the other messages.
2. Take incremental steps and introduce a single control technology at a time. A good white list package will cut down your junk tremendously by gathering wanted messages in one place. Let your people get used to the white list and get all their approved names on there. Once they start complaining about junk again, it’s time to move to Step 3.
3. Get filtering software that uses Bayesian statistical classification to identify junk e-mail and that can be trained to filter more accurately over time. Such products read the content of messages and grade it based on the total number of words in the message, not just a few key ones. This ensures a recipe for barbecue chicken breasts makes it into your inbox. The software should say “Bayesian” or “heuristics” or “intelligent language filters” as a clue.
I use POPfile, a free filtering program that includes a white list and intelligent filtering software. But it isn’t the easiest to use and doesn’t automatically add addresses I send to. However, it’s free and works well for me.
If you run your own e-mail server, there are server-based software programs you can evaluate to act on all incoming mail, including add-ons for Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise e-mail servers. If you trust your ISP to run your e-mail server, as I do, you have fewer options and must handle junk at your e-mail client. Ask your ISP if it has a white list filter application in place.
4. Don’t use e-mail challenge systems that require a human response. These products and services stop all e-mail from unknown senders and challenge the sender to respond in some way, usually by typing in a word or numbers. In other words, they block the message and store it until someone takes the extra steps, and deletes the mail if no one does.
I dislike these because they aggravate the person who sent the message. When I receive questions from readers I always respond. Regularly I get hit with such challenge e-mails that force me to go to some Web site and type something, which sorely tempts me to blow it off. You don’t want potential customers to have to jump through hoops just to get information about your products or services.
5. Don’t use black hole services. These sites filter all messages you receive against “known junk e-mail purveyors” and delete their messages before they get to you. They sound like a great idea, but unfortunately they use their own definition of junk, and have blocked many legitimate e-mail messages due to mistakes or disputes with the sending company. They often block entire ISPs, catching innocent companies in their black hole as well as junk mongers.
For details on filtering software, anti-spam initiatives, and open source junk fighting projects, visit the site below.
