Fight Spam
How We Can All Fight Spam
BorderNET is constantly looking at new ways to protect our customers from SPAM & Viruses. The following information is to help increase your security.
1. What is spam?
2. How can I stop spam & viruses coming into my email account?
3. Bordernet Serverside Filtering
4. Bordernet Client/Serverside Filtering
5. BorderNET Spam Policies
6. How to manually report spam
7. Client side spam software
8. Steps we will be taking to protect your inboxes
9. Links & Further Information
What is spam? (#)
Spam is basically un-appropriate or un-wanted email messages that are sent to you by an unknown party. Reasons vary as to why people actually send spam to innocent people (like yourselves), but the bottom line is – it is very annoying, time consuming & can often be dangerous (viruses, spy-ware, illicit material etc.)
How can I stop spam & viruses coming into my email account? (#)
There are a couple of ways in which spam can be stopped from reaching you, keep in mind that every method can never be 100% accurate. See below for more information on these options.
Bordernet Server Side Filtering (#)
Bordernet provides automatic server side spam & virus protection on any email address you have with us. By default this comes automatically turned on for you. We keep the filter threshold low - to lower the chance of it stopping legitimate email. At your request this service can be turned off for you, also if you have a hosting package with us - we can tune it to make it work better for your needs. All you need to do is contact support@bordernet.com.au to request this.
For more information on our hardware spam filter, look here.
Bordernet Client/Server Side Filtering (#)
We have recently released a plug in for the "Microsoft Outlook" email client that works along side our server side filtering to help cut down the amount of spam you receive. It is quite simple to install & just requires the click of a button to identify your mail as 'spam' or 'not spam'. This email identification is sent off to our spam filter, to help it learn & create spam fingerprints.
A document that explains this plug in & its requirements in more detail can be viewed here.
The Microsoft Outlook plugging can be downloaded in exe format here or in a zip archive here.
Client side spam software (#)
There is an array of spam fighting plug ins & software available for your home PC that can be used to filter Spam & Virus related material out of your email messages. This software can sometimes cost a lot of money, though there are many free versions that work very well. Some mail clients (like Outlook) already have built in junk mail filters, refer to the help documentation to learn more about using it.
The ACMA provide some free client side software for reporting spam to their team. This helps stop the spam at its source & helps reduce spam for everyone. More information on this tool is available here.
Mailwasher Free is another free tool which scans your emails to determine whether they are spam, & removes them as necessary. Visit their web site here for more information on downloading & installation.
How to manually report spam (#)
To report spam to our spam team at Bordernet, all you will need to do is send the email header information to us in an email to abuse@bordernet.com.au. Please only attach one header per email submitted to this email address. If you have trouble getting the email header information, have a look at this site for specific email client instructions.
Spam reports can also be made to the ACMA. See here for more information.
All spam emails sent lodged using abuse@bordernet.com.au should receive an acknowledgement within 3 days saying that your report has been received & is being processed. If you do not receive this acknowledgement, please try resending the original report - it may be possible that it did not reach us.
BorderNET Spam Policies (#)
As of July 2011, BorderNET will be introducing new and updated spam policies, these are to comply with the updated codes of practice from the Internet Industry Association, and the 2003 Spam Act. BorderNET will be making changes to our terms and conditions to comply with these regulations. We will also be improving our SPAM protection service to go above and beyond these new regulations to further protect our customers.
Steps we will be taking to protect your in boxes include; (#)
- Providing a spam and virus filtering on our servers, before it reaches your inbox
- Providing information about spam filtering software you can run on your computer to further filter the email that you receive
- Monitoring requests and complaints about spam. (Email to abuse@bordernet.com.au)
- Steps we will be taking to stop spam in general include;
- Scanning email for viruses / malicious software and spam to stop the spread of outbreaks
- Monitoring IP address ranges that customers use, to identify possible computers that have been compromised
- Monitoring mail or proxy servers run by customers for security breaches or spam complaints
- Our responsibilities to control spam;
- Investigate complaints about spam, both from our customers and from other people who may have received spam from our customers
- Warn customers if complaints have been made about spam originating from their service, and suspend their service if more complaints follow
Links & Further Information (#)
The "Spam Code Of Practice" can be viewed here.
The ACMA has wealth of information regarding spam here.
The Internet Industry Association official website can be found here.
The Internet Industry Association provides an in depth list of spam filtering software here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Stuck? Check out our Knowledge Base for the answer to your question.