Q: What do you mean by "spam"?
A: "Spam" is a widely-used term for unsolicited commercial email. It is another name for the junk mail that shows up in your email box.

Q: What is SpamAssassin?
A: SpamAssassin is software that analyzes incoming mail messages and attempts to determine which are spam and which are not, adding distinctive markings to those messages which are.

Q: Does it delete spam before I see it?
A: No.  AICT does not censor our customers' use of the Internet. We know that each of our customers has different needs and so we provide you with the tools to censor your data as you see fit.

Q: How easy is it to disable SpamAssassin if I don't want it anymore, and how do I do that? A: It's quite easy to disable.  Point your web browser to the Profile Manager and then login with your CCID and password. Select "Email Filtering" and then click the "DEACTIVATE SpamAssassin" Button

Q: My mailbox has a big stack of old mail from before your SpamAssassin announcement. Will those letters be checked for spam?
A: No. SpamAssassin scans incoming messages, not messages being stored.

Q: AICT had a junk-mail fltering tool already. Why did it change?
A: The original junkfilter was written from scratch by George Carmichael as a proof of concept. Though it worked very well, the decision was made to go with SpamAssassin as it is as close to a "standard" spam filtering tool as you are going to get. SpamAssassin is open source software and is thus maintained by the community of users as a whole. Thus it is constantly being updated and improved, eliminating the need for an analyst on campus to constantly monitor and upgrade the service.

Q: How will SpamAssassin work with Webmail? Other IMAP or POP3 clients?
A: Webmail is itself an IMAP client. Thus Webmail, along with any IMAP client (Outlook, Eudora, Thunderbird, etc.) will be able to use SpamAssassin natively. All spam will be placed in the easily-accessable junkmail folder. POP users, on the other hand, cannot use folders. SpamAssassin can still be used, but you will not be able to inspect the contents of the junkmail folder through your POP client. You will need to log in to Webmail to examine that folder.

Q: Will SpamAssassin protect me from viruses and worms?
A: No. Despite the fact that viruses and worms arrive in the email just like spam, they are not spam. Spam is an unsolicited advertisement that arrives in your mailbox, whereas viruses and worms are (sometimes) malicious computer programs. Installing antivirus software on your machine and updating it regularly is the best way to protect yourself from viruses.

Q: How accurate will it be?
A: Testing has shown the accuracy rate of SpamAssassin to be approximately 95%.

Q: How do you account for that remaining 5%?
A: SpamAssassin may not identify every piece of spam you are sent. A piece of spam that makes it through the testing is a 'false negative', and you will encounter a few of them.

Q: How should I handle a 'false negative'?
A: Treat it as you would any other piece of spam. Either junk it and forget about it, or if you feel you are getting too many spam messages being delivered to your inbox, increase the sensitivity settings in the Profile Manager.

Q: How do I know that it won't tag messages that I want to see?
A: This is possible, although tests have shown that this happens to far less than 1/10 of 1% of messages. This is called a 'false positive'. Check your junkmail folder periodicly to make sure you aren't getting too many false positives. If you feel you are getting a lot of them, you may want to turn the sensitivity down in the Profile Manager.

Q: Does SpamAssassin tag outgoing spam?
A: No. But don't take that as encouragement :)  Sending spam is a bad idea and violates the AICT Conditions of Use.

Q: How can I find out what caused a particular message to be tagged as spam?
A: By default, SpamAssassin repackages messages tagged as spam as a new message containing the spam report, a preview of the message, and the original message added as a seperate attachment. If you change the Profile Manager setting to only add reports to the headers you may view this report by instructing your email client to display the message's full headers.

Q: How can I view a message's full headers?
A: The procedure varies from one email program to another. For directions on how to view full headers for most e-mail clients, visit our help pages. (If your email program isn't in the list, give the Helpdesk a call and we'll help you figure it out.)

Q: Can I send my spam to you to help you or me?
A: No please, we get enough already and will have already seen it. AICT will periodically update the core SpamAssassin rules based on the distribution and best practices available from the spam fighting community to ensure that the base ruleset remains effective. Sensitivity, and customization to catch particular spam messages is for the individual user to choose, configure, and maintain as both spam and the type of email you receive changes. If you require further assistance in configuring your filter, please contact the AICT help desk at 492-9400 or helpdesk@ualberta.ca. Bear in mind that this, like all such services is not designed to catch all spam. You still do have a "delete" button. Our goal is to invest time and resources in efficient measures that will keep you from having to press it hundreds of times a day, rather than once or twice.