Archive for anti-spam
A Look at Various Anti-Spam Packages
Posted by: | CommentsPerhaps it shows how ubiquitous the concept of unsolicited electronic communications is that we didn’t even have to define the word “spam” in the title of this article. In the 90′s it was common to explain to the reader that no, we didn’t mean the canned meat. Now it’s arguable that fewer people even know of that definition.
There is a entire cottage industry of anti-spam products out there. This type of software lends itself very well to factual, objective analysis. It is easily measurable how much it lets through that it should, and how much it doesn’t let through that it shouldn’t. There are other considerations, of course, so let’s go through a brief listing of some of the most frequently mentioned anti-spam software packages out there.
Cloudmark Desktop
We’ll start with the worst part about this package: not only is it fairly expensive, but it must be renewed annually. For a good package this can be seen as fair, given that the filters for a quality spam filter must keep rapid pace with the times, and all reports say that Cloudmark does exactly that. It’s easy to use with its drag and drop methods, easy on your system, and almost never blocks legitimate mail, though some spam does make it through on occasion. It uses ongoing feedback from a community of more than a million users to identify spam.
Spamfighter
Spamfighter gets high marks across the board from its user community. It is fantastic on both sides of the spam war, letting in almost none and blocking almost no real mail. It functions on the network level, meaning that it requires no training and is effective right out of the gate. The price of “free” is hard to beat, though that software (ironically?) places ads in outgoing email. Upgrading to Spamfighter Pro for $30/year takes care of that.
Mailwasher Pro
Mailwasher Pro has about the longest list of features of any of the software out there. Among these are Bayesian filter, image blocking (few software packages offer this), telephone support, and compatibility with just about every mail client in existence. It comes with a 90-day money back guarantee as well.
Spam Bully
Spam Bully is one of the best packages out there for giving you the information you need to combat spam. The user is given extensive information about every email they receive so that they know which rules are doing which. The overall effectiveness is also detailed to the user by graph. “Auto revenge” is also included as a feature whereby the spammer receives their mail back, though do note that there is some community debate over whether this practice is either effective or advisable.
There are many more antispam options out there, with a wide variety of features. Look for community reviews: this is one area in which there is a lot of user feedback for both the good and bad software packages, and they don’t appear shy about expressing their opinions about it. With some estimates saying that 75% all of email today is now spam, it’s hard to blame them.
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3 Tips for Preventing Excessive Hosting Spam
Posted by: | CommentsSpam is perhaps one of the most hated terms on the internet, and this is not surprising, considering how many people lose hours of work each day in an effort to prevent and eliminate spam form their inboxes and web sites. Conventional email spam is bad enough, however there is another type of spam that is even more annoying – web hosting spam. This type of spam usually plagues your web site in the form of user comments, repetitive user posts, and an overwhelming amount of junk emails via your site’s “contact us” form. Unfortunately, this type of spam is much more difficult to prevent than conventional email spam, which can be combated with a simple spam folder and a blacklist. The following tips can help you overcome web hosting spam and keep your web site free from this type of spam.
Preventing Spam Comments
There are many webmasters that will attempt to build backlinks to their web site by leaving spam comments on your pages automatically with the help of automated software. To prevent such spam attacks you will need to make sure you are actively monitoring your site comments, as well as utilizing anti-spam tools within your web hosting control panel. All modern web hosting accounts have anti-spam utilities such as Spam Hammer that will let you set filters and prevent comments that may be easily identified as spam. For example, you can create a filter to prevent comments form containing links, which would greatly eliminate spam by discouraging spammers form leaving links on your site.
Securing Contact Forms
Some spammers will spam your web site’s contact form, sending automated emails repeatedly to overload your inbox and make your job as a webmaster difficult. This is often done by the competition, so it is very important to make sure measures are taken to prevent such spam attacks as quickly as possible, especially if you have an eCommerce site or a site that advertises your services, as you will need to be able to respond to customer and client inquiries. Fortunately, you can set filters and limits within your web hosting control panel that will keep a single IP address form sending too many emails in a row. This will greatly reduce the amount of spam emails you’ll receive.
Using Captcha Images
One of the best ways to deter spammers is through the use of Captcha forms that will prevent spammers from using automated software to attack your web site with spam. Captcha forms are basically images that contain letters and numbers that are difficult to read, and nearly impossible for a software to decipher. Thus, using Captcha forms on your web site will greatly reduce the amount of automated spam on your web site. Since spammers will no longer be able to use automated bots to fill in forms, create user accounts, and post content on your site, you will be eliminating the majority of web hosting spam.
Issues to Consider when Implementing Anti-Spam Systems
Posted by: | CommentsSpam can be a nuisance for users, webmasters and the systems they run on. This type of unwanted and unsolicited mail can implant viruses, spyware and other types of malicious code unknowingly onto a user’s computer or simple be an annoyance. As technology progresses, the spam blocking and filtering systems have greatly improved.
Numerous Problems to Consider
Most web hosting providers and Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) have extensive systems in place to ensure spam doesn’t clog their systems. Aside from the time and cost to install and maintain the systems, there are many other potential issues with anti-spam systems. For instance, messages blocked in error, accidental blacklisting of an Internet address, accuracy of spam filters, consensus-based filtering system, and issues with white lists.
Spam Filters
A common issue amongst spam filters is those messages blocked in error. Organizations send high-volume messages to their employees but they are not spam. If they are blocked, the ISP will most likely receive a complaint from both the sender and recipient. Specific communications that were never received could end in financial losses resulting in major lawsuits.
Accidental Blacklisting
Another common problem is the accidental blacklist of a specific Internet address. When a large volume of spam is sent from a specific address or group of addresses, these will be placed on a blacklist within spam filters. If these addresses are part of a user’s ISP, they may not be able to send emails to those whose ISP’s are blocking those addresses.
Accuracy
An additional concern is the accuracy of the spam filters. Many users utilize Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail and other free Internet-based email services. These providers offer spam filtering that identify spam and separate it from legitimate emails. Unfortunately, these don’t block 100% of spam emails since spammers are constantly discovering different methods for moving past the filters. Consequently the user still must weed through many messages.
Consensus Filtering
The consensus model can also cause issues. With this type of filtering system, users that receive messages they consider to be spam will report them to a centralized entity. If enough users report a specific message as spam, it will be flagged and blocked. Since there are many grey areas as to what is considered spam, some may not receive important messages. This system is far from perfect.
White Listing
Finally, there are many issues with white lists, which inform the filtering program to allow specific email through based on the source of the message. Individuals can also add their lists to the central bank. Although this method often helps to eliminate spam, it is prone to falsification and spoofing.
Spam filtering systems and methods are far from perfect. While they do help eliminate the majority of spam, there are still many problems that need to be addressed to ensure total security. Spammers continue to find methods around spam blockers, but as technology progresses and security tightens, spam filters will become more effective.
Lunarpages November Newsletter
Posted by: | CommentsFall is here in full swing, but do not let that get you down. The only thing falling at Lunarpages, is our prices! Both the Business hosting plan and Quicksite have received price cuts for new customers - but that is not all. We have an entire series of tutorials, articles, news topics and more to share with you this November.
Here is what we have lined up for you this month:
What big news is going on in the month of November? From web hosting plan savings, to how you can stay up to date with everything we publish; there is a little something for everybody. Get up to date with the latest web hosting news to come out of the Lunarpages headquarters.
A few issues back, we introduced you to the great web site error checker, DeepTrawl. Well, now we are happy to announce that we are giving to you the full featured DeepTrawl Lunarpages Edition, totally free of charge!
How to Setup Anti-Spam Controls in LPCP
We have spoken before about the great features that come included with the new LPCP control panel. This time around, we are going to share with you how to easy it is to set up your anti-spam controls so you can keep the unsolicited e-mails out of your inbox, for good.
Getting More Visitors with Google AdWords
Lunarpages has teamed up with Google AdWords to give all first time advertisers an easy way to get their web sites out there to the public. Depending on the hosting plan you have, you could be eligible for up to $100 worth of free Google AdWords credit. We are here to help you get your Google AdWords advertising account started off on the right foot.
In an effort to help webmasters of every skill level, we have put together one of the most comprehensive guides to getting started with HTML. Created exclusively for Lunarpages customers in mind, we have put together a six part tutorial series that will educate you about the hyper text markup language.
Lunar Picks – What Gadget Are You Thankful For?
It is November, which means that Thanksgiving is right around the corner. To put a geeky spin on this favorite holiday of ours, we decided to ask the Lunarpages crew what their favorite gadgets are, and why are they thankful for them.
Setup Your Own “Share on Facebook” Button
One of the most popular social networks out there, by a big margin, is Facebook. You can now easily jump onto this social bandwagon by adding a “Share on Facebook” button to your own web site layout. This way, people can instantly share your web site with all their friends, family members and followers.
How to Password Protect Your Hosted Folders
Password protection is a good way to keep people out of a folder, or let a select group of people in. To give you more control and functionality, we recently added this feature to our LPCP powered hosting accounts. In this guide, we will walk you through the steps you need to take to password protect your own folders.
3 Fool Proof Ways to Advertise Any Web Site
Driving traffic to your web site is not always an easy thing to do. One of the most popular questions we get asked is, “how can I get more web site visitors?” This month, we have come up with three excellent and cost effective ways to get your web site known to the public at large.
View Your Page in Multiple Browsers Online!
With the help of Adobe’s BrowserLab, you can check to see how your web site looks on several different browsers and operating systems, virtually. This tool provides you a quick and easy way to check out your domain without having to install numerous browsers.
Over 20 Links for Statistical Stats
You can not mention web sites without mentioning statistics. Many of us webmasters love checking our web site traffic every day. This month, in our look at the best links from around the Web, we are focusing on the 20 best links for statistical and analytical statistics.
That is it for this month’s edition of the Lunarpages Newsletter. We hope you enjoy this collection of articles, tutorials, tips and more we have created especially for you, the Lunarpages clients and customers. We always enjoy hearing your feedback, so please feel free to leave a comment or send your opinions to affiliate@lunarpages.com.
How to Setup Anti-Spam Controls in LPCP
Posted by: | CommentsCorrectly configuring your anti-spam settings in your e-mail accounts is essential to do, to prevent yourself from becoming an easy target to anybody who may wish to send you unsolicited e-mails. The LPCP control panel comes with all the tools you need to get your anti-spam configuration up, running and customized for each of your e-mail accounts you have created.
Step one would be to login to your LPCP for your hosting plan, and select the E-Mail Accounts link under E-mail sidebar menu category.
Next, locate the e-mail address you wish to configure, and click on the AntiSpam link that lines up with that account in question. You can configure each account individually.
Now you will see the first screen of three when it comes to configuring your anti-spam settings in LPCP. Here you can setup the basic configurations for SpamAssassin.
- Required Score – Set the number of hits required before a mail is considered spam. “n.nn” can be an integer or a real number. 5.0 is the default setting, and is aggressive; it would be suitable for a single-user setup, but if you’re an ISP installing SpamAssassin, you should probably set the default to be more conservative, like 8.0 or 10.0.
- Rewrite Subject – Text added to the Subject: line of mails that are considered spam. _HITS_ in the tag will be replace with the calculated score for this message. _REQD_ will be replaced with the threshold.
The second configuration screen allows you to whitelist certain e-mail addresses. This is a good place to add e-mail addresses of friends and family members, so you can be sure when they send you something it will never be filtered out or labeled as spam by mistake.
The third configuration screen allows you to blacklist certain e-mail addresses. Add e-mail accounts here from people or places you never want to receive e-mail from. For example, if somebody@somedomain.com is harassing you via e-mail, you could list his e-mail address here – and his messages would no longer go through.
Once you are done, you can repeat these steps for each e-mail account you have created under your hosting plan so you can take care of any spam e-mail problems you might be having.
Bonus: Check out more tutorials, guides and more on the web hosting wiki!
For those of you who use cPanel, and want to do the same – you can follow the advice in this tutorial.