Spam Identification Service

SpamAssassin is a "mail filter" that runs on the campus email servers to identify spam. Using its rule base, SpamAssassin applies a wide range of heuristic tests on mail headers and body text to identify "spam", also known as unsolicited commercial email.

All messages addressed to "recipient@ucla.edu" as well as mail sent via mail.ucla.edu will be scanned for spam. SpamAssassin will analyze the content of the message and assign a score using its rule base. A message with a score of 5 or more will be flagged as spam.

SpamAssassin will insert mail headers that explain the results of the SpamAssassin check (Note: The message headers it adds are not normally displayed by email clients.) Selecting "View Full Headers" or a similar command must be used to view the mail headers.

Spam tagging has been implemented on Bruin Online SMTP mail server:

• mail.ucla.edu

An example of the type of header information that is added by SpamAssassin is as follows:

    X-Probable-Spam: yes
    X-Spam-Hits: 6.8
    X-Spam-Score: ******

Server-side Spam Filtering

Server-side filtering allows you to apply filtering rules on your mailbox on the server before you download it to your email program. This type of filtering is beneficial since you will not need to spend time downloading all of the unwanted mail, and then filtering them out in your email program. Server-side filtering applies to your mailbox on the server. This filter will apply to your mailbox no matter where you check your mail.

In order to enable spam filtering, please login to BOL Webmail at https://mail.ucla.edu/ and follow instructions at:

http://www.bol.ucla.edu/services/email/filtering/docs/spam.html

The lower the spam score selected, the more sensitive the filter: For example, filtering on a score of "3" is more sensitive than filtering on a score of "7". Bruin OnLine reccomends the following when setting up your filters:

• Pick an initial spam score of "5" to reduce the likelihood of legitimate emails getting marked as spam.
• Create a folder to filter your marked emails into. This will reduce the chance of accidently delete a valid message.
• If you have set up a Spam folder , be sure to check your Spam mailbox frequently, as any emails saved to that folder will count against your total quota.

If you have any further questions, please contact us at (310)267-HELP (4357) option 1, or at consult@ucla.edu.