C a s c a d e A c c e s s S p a m F i l t e r i n g

We now offer Spam filtering via Spam Assassin.

The spam-identification tactics used include:

header analysis: spammers use a number of tricks to mask their identities, fool you into thinking they've sent a valid mail, or fool you into thinking you must have subscribed at some stage. SpamAssassin tries to spot these.

text analysis: again, spam mails often have a characteristic style (to put it politely), and some characteristic disclaimers and CYA text. SpamAssassin can spot these, too.

blacklists: SpamAssassin supports many useful existing blacklists, such as mail-abuse.org, ordb.org or others.

Razor: Vipul's Razor is a collaborative spam-tracking database, which works by taking a signature of spam messages. Since spam typically operates by sending an identical message to hundreds of people, Razor short-circuits this by allowing the first person to receive a spam to add it to the database -- at which point everyone else will automatically block it.

Once identified, the mail is tagged as **Possible Spam** for later filtering using the user's own mail user-agent application.

Information For End-Users

Who altered my mail?

Your system administrator or ISP has installed a scanning program which modified your e-mail.

Why was the e-mail altered?

Your system administrator or ISP has implemented a policy to tag spam (also known as unsolicited commercial e-mail). Each incoming e-mail is scanned for signs that it may be spam, and if it is determined that it's likely to be spam, it is altered to clearly reflect this, so that you -- the user -- can decide whether to delete or keep it.

Cascade Access makes any potential spam as **Possible Spam** in the subject field. You will still receive all of your e-mail. Additional you can filter this to sort spam into a folder or simply move it to the deleted items folder.

If you have concerns about the scanning policy, please talk to your system administrator or ISP support desk.

Who are you and what are you doing to my mail?

We are the writers of this software -- we did not install it on your system. As a result, you need to send mail to support@cascadeaccess.com for assitance.

Although we wrote the program, it is your system administrator who chose to use it, and we have no control over the filtering rules set up by the administrator.

But The Message Was Not Spam!

Sometimes SpamAssassin(tm) will get a "false positive", resulting in tagged mails which are not actually spam at all. Since spammers don't usually highlight the fact that their mail is unwanted, unsolicited ads, SpamAssassin has to try to work it out -- and it's not always easy to do.

But I Don't Get Much Spam!

Count yourself lucky, then! The longer your email address stays valid, the more spam you will get.

It may not be a problem for you -- yet -- but others find it very frustrating. Some recent research has indicated that several ISPs find their incoming mail is between 30% and 50% spam, overall; and quite a few old-timers who've used the same address for years, get over 30 spams a day.

If you don't get much spam, you probably find SpamAssassin more annoying than useful. In this case, see How Can I Turn It Off?, below.

How Can I Turn It Off?

You have two options. Firstly, SpamAssassin can be made a lot less sensitive. To do this, ask your systems administrator or ISP's helpdesk to "increase the SpamAssassin threshold".

Alternatively, if you just want all your mail, unfiltered, simply send a note to support@cascadeaccess.com asking to be removed from any spam filtering.

What is SpamAssassin?

SpamAssassin(tm) is a mail filter which scans, and attempts to block, spam. More information here.

Automatic Filtering?

For instructions on how to setup an Automatic filtering. We have created a step by step walk through. Please visit this link.